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%.
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%.
* 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)
* 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)
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.
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.
* S&P downgrade of Argentina batters sentiment towards country
* MSCI's EM stocks index rises; stimulus hopes help Chinese stocks
* China's yuan firms after stronger-than-expected central bank fix
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.
A Saudi Air Force second lieutenant killed four people and wounded eight others on Friday in an unexplained shooting rampage at a U.S. Navy base in Florida where he was training, U.S. officials told Reuters.