SPY•Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 15:05 GMT:
| Stock indexes | Latest | Daily % change |
MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF | 1719.61 | -0.18 |
MSCI LatAm .MILA00000PUS | 3024.11 | -1.06 |
Brazil Bovespa .BVSP | 174533.97 | -0.34 |
Mexico IPC .MXX | 65541.79 | -0.44 |
Chile IPSA .SPIPSA |
| 11530.87 |
| 0.52 |
Argentina MerVal .MERV | 2977977.61 | -0.77 |
Colombia COLCAP .COLCAP | 2484.57 | -0.21 |
| Currencies | Latest | Daily % change |
Brazil real BRL= | 5.2062 | -0.87 |
Mexico peso MXN= | 17.0171 | -0.27 |
Chile peso CLP= | 929.46 | -0.39 |
Colombia peso COP= | 3201.21 | -1.56 |
Peru sol PEN= | 3.3499 | -0.02 |
Argentina peso (interbank) ARS=RASL | 1,513.0 | -0.03 |
Argentina peso (parallel) ARSB= | 1,535.0 | 1.29 |
Brazil's Bovespa .BVSP dropped 0.3%, putting it on course to snap a seven-session winning streak, while the real BRL= weakened 0.9%.
Fiscal worries remained in focus as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said late on Thursday that Brazil's rising public debt would not concern him in a potential new term. Lula, who is seeking reelection in October, blamed part of the increase on the country's 14% benchmark interest rate.
Brazil's gross debt has risen more than 10 percentage points since Lula took office, reaching 81.9% of GDP in June, central bank data showed.
"The challenge is that Brazil's fiscal situation may need to deteriorate further before policymakers are forced to address it," said Alejo Czerwonko, chief investment officer for emerging markets at UBS Global Wealth Management.
"Politics will dominate the headlines between now and October. For investors, however, the more important question may be what Brazil looks like once the election is over and the difficult work of restoring fiscal credibility begins."
Elsewhere, Colombia's peso COP= fell 1.6%, on track for a fifth straight losing day, while Mexican stocks .MXX fell 0.4% and the peso MXN= dropped 0.3%.
The budget bill submitted by Colombia's new government to Congress revealed a fiscal outlook far worse than markets had expected for 2026 and 2027, analysts said, adding that the country may need support from multilateral lenders including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Most Latin American currencies and equities fell on Monday as a resurgent U.S. dollar pressured regional assets, after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's remarks prompted traders to increase bets on an imminent U.S. interest-rate hike.
Speaking at Jackson Hole, Warsh said recent data did not point to a change in the U.S. inflation trend and that the Fed would have "more work to do" without clearer evidence that inflation is returning to its 2% target. Traders subsequently added to bets on a September rate hike by the U.S. central bank.
The dollar =USD rose 0.4% to a more than one-week high, extending a recovery from sharp losses last week when U.S. Treasury bond-buyback plans revived talks of "dollar debasement" trades.
MSCI's Latin American equities index .MILA00000PUS fell 1.1%, while its regional currency index .MILA00000CUS slipped 0.6%, with both headed for a third straight day of losses. The currency gauge was on track for a weekly decline, while equities were little changed for the week.
Chile's stocks .SPIPSA bucked the broader trend, up 0.5%, for a rising for a second straight session and week. Data showed Chile's unemployment rate reached 9.5% in the quarter through July, slightly above the 9.4% forecast in a Reuters poll.
