Most Latin American markets advance amid global monetary policy expectations

By Nelson Bocanegra

BOGOTÁ, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Most Latin American money and stock markets were trading higher in the early hours of Friday’s session as traders tried to weigh the future of monetary policy as the economic data are published in the United States and Europe.

* Analysts polled by Reuters said the dollar’s recent strength was temporary, with the currency weakening over the year amid an improving global economy and expectations that the Fed will stop raising interest rates long before the European Central Bank.

* The Mexican peso strengthened 0.10% to 18.0213 units to the dollar, to levels it had not reached since April 2018 and the main stock index S&P/BMV IPC, which makes up the 35 most liquid companies in the market, rose 0.37% to 53,519.87 points.

* The Chilean peso rose 0.37% to 811.20/811.50 units to the dollar, driven by an overall decline in the greenback and a slight increase in the price of copper, the country’s main export. Similarly, the flagship index of the Santiago stock exchange, the IPSA, gained 0.85% to 5,453.31 points.

* The Colombian peso advanced 0.21% to 4,790 units to the dollar and on the stock market, the benchmark MSCI COLCAP index climbed 0.61% to 1,196.40 points.

* In Brazil, the real fell 0.20% to 5.2114 units to the dollar as optimism in the international market was offset by fresh criticism from Central Bank President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

* On the stock market, the Bovespa stock market index rose by 0.63% to 103,980.40 points.

* The Peruvian currency, the sol, appreciated 0.11% to 3.783/3.785 units to the dollar. At the same time, the benchmark index of the Lima Stock Exchange improved by 0.11% to 576.19 points.

* In Argentina, the peso lost 0.24% to 198.35 units to the dollar, while the main Argentinian S&P Merval index rose one point to 244,888 points, due to concentrated purchases of the main papers after a recent general profit taking, while definitions are expected from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra, additional reporting by Froilán Romero in Santiago and Hernán Nessi in Buenos Aires)