China announces 2024 5% economic growth target
Colombia’s Grupo Aval rises on higher Q4 profit
Brazil’s Cogna up after rating upgrade
FX down 0.1%, stocks off 0.5%
Updated at 3:20pm ET/2020 GMT
By Shashwat Chauhan and Lisa Pauline Mattackal
March 5 (Reuters) – Emerging market stocks were pressured and currenciesof Latin America’s copper-producing nations dipped on Tuesday,as a lack of big-ticket stimulus plans from China weighed on sentiment.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced an ambitious 2024 economic growth target of around 5%, promising to transform the world’s second largest economy’s developmentmodel and defuse risks fueled by bankrupt property developers and indebted cities.
However, stimulus measures missed some investors’ expectations, weighing on prices of commodities like oil and copper. MET/L O/R
“‘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.
MSCI’s index for Latin American stocks .MILA00000PUS slipped 0.5% to its lowest in a month, tracking global emerging market equities .MSCIEF which slumped nearly 1%.
Top copper producerChile’s peso CLP= depreciated 0.5% to 980.5 per dollar.Peru’s sol PEN= reversed early losses, jumping 0.8%.
Chile’s currency was trading around its lowest levels since October 2022.
“The sell-off has been very significant recently … buying CLP would perhaps be somewhat akin to catching a falling knife,” said Roman Ziruk, senior market analyst at Ebury.
MSCI’s index for Latin American currencies .MILA00000CUS slipped 0.1%.
Brazil’s real BRL= was flat against the dollar after two successive days of gains.
Private sector economists in Brazil reduced their estimates for inflation in 2024 to 3.76% from 3.80% a week earlier.
Argentina’s dollar-denominated sovereign bonds mostly held on to sharp gains from the previous session, with the 2035 issue 040114HT0=1M slipping just 1.2 cents as investors hoped President Javier Milei’s renewedreform push would bring relief for the country’s struggling economy.
Mexico’s peso MXN= was little changed, but hoveringnear its highest level in seven weeks. Mexican stocks rose 0.1%.
Chile’s main stock index .SPIPSA lagged regional peers, down 1.3%, whileshares in Buenos Aires .MERV lost 5%.
Brazilian shares .BVSP lost 0.3%, as shares of miner Vale VALE3.SA and oil company Petrobras PETR4.SA dipped 1.6% and 1%, respectively.
Investors eyed U.S. payrolls data due later in the week, which could be key in gauging the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook, and Chairman Jerome Powell’s monetary policy testimony to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
Education company Cogna COGN3.SA advanced 5.8% after XP Investimentos analystsupgraded their recommendation to “buy”.
Colombia’s benchmark index gained 1%.
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 at 2000 GMT:
|
Latest |
Daily % change |
|
|
MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF |
1021.10 |
-0.9 |
|
MSCI LatAm .MILA00000PUS |
2507.26 |
-0.47 |
|
Brazil Bovespa .BVSP |
127907.45 |
-0.34 |
|
Mexico IPC .MXX |
55520.63 |
0.1 |
|
Chile IPSA .SPIPSA |
6258.86 |
-1.29 |
|
Argentina MerVal .MERV |
992683.89 |
-5.243 |
|
Colombia COLCAP .COLCAP |
1302.85 |
1.11 |
|
Currencies |
Latest |
Daily % change |
|
Brazil real BRBY |
4.9566 |
-0.04 |
|
Mexico peso MXN=D2 |
16.9530 |
0.04 |
|
Chile peso CLP=CL |
980.5 |
-0.51 |
|
Colombia peso COP= |
3947.68 |
-0.14 |
|
Peru sol PEN=PE |
3.7321 |
0.82 |
|
Argentina peso (interbank) ARS=RASL |
845.0000 |
-0.06 |
|
Argentina peso (parallel) ARSB= |
990 |
2.53 |
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru
Editing by Nick Zieminski
