Colombia’s Grupo Aval rises on higher Q4 profit
Brazil’s Cogna up after rating upgrade
FX, stocks flat
By Shashwat Chauhan
March 5 (Reuters) –Currencies of copper-producing nations dipped on Tuesday, as copper prices came under pressure on a lack of big-ticket stimulus plans from China’s ongoing annual parliament session. MET/L
Top producer Chile’s peso CLP= depreciated 0.3% to 978.3 per dollar, while Peru’s sol PEN= fell 0.4%.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced an ambitious 2024 economic growth target of around 5%, promising steps to transform China’s development model and defuse risks fuelled by bankrupt property developers and indebted cities.
“Interestingly, ‘transforming the growth model’ and ‘making structural adjustments’ seemed the most significant call to action, but were perhaps too vague to elicit a response from traders,” Macquarie strategists said.
Bucking the trend, Mexico’s peso MXN= appreciated 0.2%, hovering near its highest level in seven weeks.
Brazil’s real BRL= was flat against the dollar after two successive days of gains as iron ore prices were mixed. IRONORE/
Separately, private sector economists in Brazil reduced their estimates for inflation in 2024 to 3.76% from 3.80% a week earlier.
At 10:02 a.m. ET (1502 GMT), MSCI’s index for Latin American stocks .MILA00000CUS and stocks .MILA00000PUS were both flat, shrugging off the initial gloom.
Chile’s main stock index .SPIPSA lagged regional peers, down 1.3%, while Mexico .MXX also fell 0.3%.
Shares in Buenos Aires .MERV also had a weak start to the day, down 0.2%.
Heavyweight Brazilian shares .BVSP rose 0.1%, boosted by consumer staples and utilities stocks.
Amongst headlining stocks, education company Cogna COGN3.SA advanced 6.2% after analysts at XP Investimentos upgraded their recommendation to “buy”.
Colombian financial conglomerate Grupo Aval GAA.CN advanced 2.3% after posting a year-over-year rise in net profit in the fourth quarter.
Globally, sentiment remained risk-off ahead of a crucial U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later in the week, which could be key in gauging the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Bloomberg to add Indian bonds to EM debt indexes from January 2025
** Producer prices in Brazil fall 0.31% in January
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
|
Stock indexes |
Latest |
Daily % change |
|
MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF |
1022.29 |
-0.79 |
|
MSCI LatAm .MILA00000PUS |
2519.53 |
0.01 |
|
Brazil Bovespa .BVSP |
128426.36 |
0.07 |
|
Mexico IPC .MXX |
55287.03 |
-0.32 |
|
Chile IPSA .SPIPSA |
6255.71 |
-1.34 |
|
Argentina MerVal .MERV |
1045549.64 |
-0.197 |
|
Colombia COLCAP .COLCAP |
1288.87 |
0.02 |
|
Currencies |
Latest |
Daily % change |
|
Brazil real BRBY |
4.9458 |
0.04 |
|
Mexico peso MXN=D2 |
16.9229 |
0.22 |
|
Chile peso CLP=CL |
978.4 |
-0.30 |
|
Colombia peso COP= |
3939.02 |
0.08 |
|
Peru sol PEN=PE |
3.7763 |
-0.36 |
|
Argentina peso (interbank) ARS=RASL |
845.0000 |
-0.06 |
|
Argentina peso (parallel) ARSB= |
990 |
2.53 |
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru