04 Dec 2019
Dec 3 Latin America is poised for growth after
years of under performance, Luiz Ribeiro, manager of the Latin
America Equity Fund at asset manager DWS Group, said
on Tuesday, forecasting regional growth would rebound in 2020 to
near 2%.
03 Dec 2019
Dec 3 Latin America is poised for growth after
years of under performance, Luiz Ribeiro, manager of the Latin
America Equities fund at asset manager DWS Group, said
on Tuesday, forecasting regional growth would rebound in 2020 to
near 2%.
29 Nov 2019
* Chile's peso sees second best day in 10 years on
intervention
* Brazil's real slides 1%, intervention's effect wanes
By Aaron Saldanha
Nov 29 Chile's peso starred among Latin American
currencies on Friday, bouncing off an all-time closing low on
news of a chunky central bank intervention program, which set it
on course for its second best day in more than a decade.
The country's central bank late on Thursday said it would
sell up to $20 billion in foreign currency interventions
starting on Monday aiming to stabilize the peso, which prompted
some short-sellers to scale back bets on further weakness.
"Chile has around $40 billion in reserves," said Guido
Chamorro, a portfolio manager for Pictet Asset Management in
London.
"This (FX intervention) program is $10 billion plus $10
billion. It is a pretty big number but if it's big a number, it
better work."
The announcement had the desired effect despite the release
of data on Friday showing manufacturing production
dropped 5.8% in October from a year earlier, as well as news of
sinking profit at state-owned copper mining giant Codelco.
Weekly Refinitiv Lipper data ended Nov. 20 showed
international investors were still allocating money to a popular
Chile-focused ETF despite increasingly violent protests
against inequality which have led to over 25,000 people being
detained.
Simon Harvey, FX market analyst at Monex Europe, said the
intervention was "deemed credible" but he did not see the
currency firm to under the 800 peso-per-dollar mark due to local
factors such as protests, instead suggesting the Chilean central
bank would allow the currency to weaken but at a slower pace
than market factors dictate.
"The central bank is going to have to strike the balance of
cutting rates next week to stimulate growth while not making it
counter-intuitive to their intervention policy in FX markets."
Moving in the other direction, Brazil's real weakened
1%, drifting towards a record low hit on Tuesday, as the effects
of central bank intervention wore off.
Monex Europe's Harvey said Brazil's real had traded in the 4
to 4.20 reais-per-dollar range for most of the fourth quarter,
which it had recently broken out of, leading to rising political
pressure to bring it back within that range.
Nevertheless, the weaker currency was providing some
insulation to the local economy from slowing global growth and
tepid external demand, he said.
Stocks on Sao Paulo's Bovespa dipped 0.4%, as the
energy sector bore the brunt of a 2% decline in Brent crude
futures, with shares of oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA
(Petrobras) falling 1%.
Mexican equities slid 0.5%, largely on losses among
consumer staples and materials, broadly in line with the decline
seen in the peso.
While Colombia's peso softened 0.5% and stocks
slipped 0.2%, Argentinean assets marked
time.
Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1732 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1038.90 -1.09
MSCI LatAm 2646.39 0.1
Brazil Bovespa 107911.41 -0.35
Mexico IPC 42872.20 -0.53
Chile SPIPSA 4515.26 -0.08
Argentina MerVal 34264.79 0.132
Colombia Colcap 1600.71 -0.18
Currencies Latest Daily % change
Brazil real 4.2315 -0.38
Mexico peso 19.5520 -0.42
Chile peso 805.8 2.73
Colombia peso 3524.48 -0.38
Peru sol 3.402 -0.24
Argentina peso (interbank) 59.8500 -0.12
(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru, Additional reporting
by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
28 Nov 2019
* Trump signs bill on Hong Kong into law
* China warns of retaliation
* Brazil's real firms, rising off record low
* Argentina's MerVal ticks higher
By Aaron Saldanha
Nov 28 Latin American stocks rose on Thursday,
as gains in index heavyweight Brazil more than offset creeping
doubts about a U.S.-China trade truce, while most currencies in
the region slipped as investors stayed away from riskier assets.
Earlier in the day, China's Foreign Ministry warned of
unspecified "firm counter measures" after U.S. President Donald
Trump signed legislation backing pro-democracy protesters in
Hong Kong.
Global markets were trading lower as investors dialed back
on their optimism of an initial trade agreement being signed
soon, Gabriel Casillas, chief economist and head of research at
Banorte Research, wrote in a note.
MSCI's Latin American stocks index rose
0.3%, a move largely matched by the regional currencies
benchmark due to gains in Brazil's real.
Sao Paulo-traded equities rose 0.3% as consumer
staples and industrials overshadowed a drop in energy stocks and
a flagging financial sector, which were pressured by a cap on
interest rates on overdraft credit.
State-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras)
fell 0.3%, as investors looked past the announcement
of a planned expansion of output, paying more attention instead
to a 0.6% decline in Brent crude futures.
In a bright spot, Brazil's real firmed 0.9%, after
hitting an all-time closing low on Wednesday, and was on course
to snap a four-session losing streak. Meanwhile, yields on local
10-year bonds rose 7.5 basis points to 7.075%.
Mexican stocks dipped 0.1%, while the peso
softened by 0.4%. Minutes of the central bank's last monetary
policy meeting released on Thursday showed the bank leaving the
door open to future rate cuts against the backdrop of weaker
than expected economic activity.
Chile's peso notched a record low, pummeled by a
double whammy of sliding prices of copper, the country's
top export, on global trade fears and violent local protests.
Stocks in Chile slid 2.2%.
Meanwhile, Argentina's stocks rose 0.4%, while the
peso marked time. President-elect Alberto Fernandez, who
takes office next month, said he did not want to fall short on
the country's debt obligations.
Colombia's peso softened 0.4%, while stocks
rose 0.7%, on course to record a closing gain for the first time
this week, aided by rising financials such as Bancolombia
.
Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1747 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1050.51 -0.23
MSCI LatAm 2644.36 0.3
Brazil Bovespa 107978.86 0.25
Mexico IPC 42976.25 -0.14
Chile SPIPSA 4494.82 -2.21
Argentina MerVal 34051.31 0.36
Colombia Colcap 1598.51 0.7
Currencies Latest Daily % change
Brazil real 4.2316 0.62
Mexico peso 19.5795 -0.36
Chile peso 828.9 -1.46
Colombia peso 3516.89 -0.39
Peru sol 3.3898 -0.17
Argentina peso (interbank) 59.7700 0.02
(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; editing by Diane
Craft)
28 Oct 2019
Oct 28 Emerging market stocks rose to a
three-month high on Monday, aided by gains among Chinese shares,
while developing-world currencies gained at the beginning of an
important week for emerging-market assets.
03 Sep 2019
Sept 3 India's economy will rely on further
monetary easing to kick-start sagging growth as budgetary
constraints rule out significant fiscal stimulus, Shumita
Deveshwar, Director of India Research at TS Lombard, said on
Tuesday.
30 Aug 2019
* S&P downgrade of Argentina batters sentiment towards
country
16 Aug 2019
* MSCI's EM stocks index rises; stimulus hopes help Chinese
stocks
06 Aug 2019
* China's yuan firms after stronger-than-expected central
bank fix
05 Aug 2019
Aug 5 China's yuan fell through the key level of
7 per dollar on Monday as emerging market currencies softened
broadly, engulfed by risk aversion on fears of a slowdown in
global trade.