By Bruno Federowski
BRASILIA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Brazilian markets extended a
rally on Friday as traders bet leftist former President Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva would be barred from running in this year's
elections after an appeals court upheld his conviction for
corruption.
The Brazilian real firmed as much as 1.2 percent
before paring gains to around 0.1 percent due to profit-taking.
The benchmark Bovespa stock index touched an all-time
high at 84,523.
Lula, who is leading opinion polls and has vowed to undo
some of President Michel Temer's austerity efforts, could now be
ineligible to stand for election under Brazil's "clean record"
law, which bans political candidates whose convictions have been
upheld by an appellate court.
But Lula still has options. An electoral court must make the
final ruling on his candidacy and would only do so once he
registers.
The court's decision on Wednesday "reduces the risk of
unorthodox policymaking and opens up space for candidates that
support market-friendly reforms," Magliano brokerage analyst
Carlos Soares Rodrigues said.
Blue-chips, including shares of banks and state-controlled
oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, added the most
points to Brazil's benchmark index, but miner Vale SA's
stock tracked iron ore prices lower.
The Chilean peso fell 0.3 percent as rising
on-warrant copper stocks weighed on prices of the industrial
metal. But the Mexican peso rose 0.2 percent, tracking
global weakness in the U.S. dollar.
The dollar fell against a basket of currencies on
Friday as senior U.S. officials' comments this week in favor of
a weak greenback reverberated through currency markets.
After U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he
ultimately wanted the dollar to be strong, the currency pared
some losses, but it was on track for its biggest monthly drop
since March 2016.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1420 GMT:
Stock indexes daily % YTD %
change change
Latest
MSCI Emerging Markets 1266.65 0.25 9.06
MSCI LatAm 3191.66 -0.32 13.22
Brazil Bovespa 83979.00 0.36 9.92
Chile IPSA 5801.94 -0.17 4.27
Chile IGPA 29175.19 -0.14 4.27
Venezuela IBC 2923.54 1.39 -90.78
Currencies daily % YTD %
change change
Latest
Brazil real 3.1543 0.12 5.04
Mexico peso 18.5675 0.23 6.09
Chile peso 600.72 -0.28 2.32
Colombia peso 2814.4 -0.89 5.96
Peru sol 3.214 -0.12 0.72
Argentina peso (interbank) 19.5050 0.46 -4.64
Argentina peso (parallel) 19.91 0.60 -3.42
(Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)