By Froilan Romero
SANTIAGO, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Currencies and stock markets in Latin America were mixed on Monday amid a slight global gain in the dollar, as investors’ attention focused on crucial data from the US inflation to be released on Tuesday, which could guide the Federal Reserve’s interest. rate hike strategy.
* The dollar neared five-week highs against major currencies on Monday, particularly the interest-rate-sensitive yen, as investors bet the Federal Reserve will maintain tight monetary policy for longer drove yields higher US bonds.
* These anticipations will be called into question or accentuated by the main event of the week, the publication of data on consumer prices in the United States.
* The Mexican peso traded at 18.6626 to the dollar, down 0.09% from Reuters’ benchmark price on Friday, as investors awaited the release of U.S. inflation figures.
* “Inflation is in the sights of financial markets, which are already betting on when central banks will start cutting interest rates,” CI Banco said in an analysis note.
* The main S&P/BMV IPC stock index, which includes the 35 most liquid companies in the Mexican market, rose 0.71% to 52,854.23 units, following the performance of markets in New York.
* In Brazil, meanwhile, the real appreciated by 0.82%, to 5.1724 units for the dollar, while the Bovespa index of the B3 stock exchange in Sao Paulo fell by 0.25%, at 107,779.45 points.
* In Argentina, the peso fell 0.62% to 191.70 to the dollar in central bank-regulated depreciation, while the Merval stock index gained 0.29% to 250,628.10 units, driven by the evolution of shares in the energy segment.
* “Transportadora Gas del Norte achieved a weekly increase of more than 26% and again reached historic highs. One of the main reasons is that it announced that it was going to collect compensation from YPF for a total of $190.6 million in four annual installments starting next year,” said Ayelén Romero of Rava Bursátil.
* The Chilean peso rose 0.47% to 794.50/794.80 to the dollar. At the same time, the flagship index of the Santiago Stock Exchange, the IPSA, lost 0.51% to 5,365.17 units.
* “Today (Monday), global markets work with their views on U.S. inflation data, which will surely allow investors to determine the Federal Reserve’s next steps on interest rate hikes in the United States,” one operator said. .
* The Colombian peso weakened 0.49% to 4,824.50 units to the dollar, in its second losing session, while the MSCI COLCAP stock index fell 0.26% to 1,242.45 stock market points.
* The Peruvian currency, the sol, traded steadily at 3.836/3.84 units to the dollar. At the same time, the benchmark index of the Lima Stock Exchange improved by 0.50% to 566.92 points.
(Reporting by Froilán Romero. Additional reporting by Nelson Bocanegra in Bogotá, Hernán Nessi, Jorge Otaola and Walter Bianchi in Buenos Aires and Noé Torres in Mexico City, editing by Manuel Farías)