EMERGING MARKETS-Mexico peso gains on central bank intervention as Fed eyed
By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, April 5 The Mexican peso led gains among Latin American currencies on Wednesday, supported by market intervention by its central bank ahead of the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting minutes. The Banco de Mexico fully rolled over $500 million worth of currency hedging instruments originally sold a month ago to stem a slump in the currency. The peso is now up 11 percent so far this year, rebounding from all-time lows in 2016 amid fresh hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump will not impose heavy tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States as he had threatened. The peso firmed nearly 0.5 percent on Thursday, while other currencies in the region were mostly flat. Traders avoided big bets before the release of the U.S. central bank March policy meeting minutes later in the day. Investors have closely monitored the Fed's communication in search of hints over when U.S. interest rates will rise again, potentially draining capital away from higher-yielding emerging markets. U.S. companies hired the most workers in over two years in March, supporting the Fed's view for at least two more hikes by year-end. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1610 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change MSCI Emerging Markets 970.16 0.52 11.93 MSCI LatAm 2,690.27 0.79 14.03 Brazil Bovespa 65,655.72 -0.17 9.01 Mexico IPC 49,227.97 -0.23 7.85 Chile IPSA 4,857.06 0.65 17.00 Chile IGPA 24,297.86 0.58 17.19 Argentina MerVal 20,836.01 0 23.16 Colombia IGBC 10,223.33 0.42 0.94 Venezuela IBC 45,184.30 -1.21 42.51 Currencies Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change Brazil real 3.0914 0.19 5.10 Mexico peso 18.7300 0.47 10.75 Chile peso 658.5 0.29 1.85 Colombia peso 2,857.83 0.12 5.03 Peru sol 3.248 0.06 5.11 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.3575 -0.02 3.37 Argentina peso (parallel) 15.79 0.57 6.52 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski, editing by G Crosse)