* Trading volumes subdued due to Brazil, Mexico holidays
* Latam stocks rise after steep weekly losses
* Oil-linked currencies fall
By Ambar Warrick
Nov 2 (Reuters) - Chile's peso led gains across Latin
American currencies on Monday as positive Chinese manufacturing
data supported copper prices, although sentiment remained
subdued in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential election.
Activity in China's factory sector accelerated at the
fastest pace in nearly a decade in October, supporting copper
prices, given that China is the world's largest consumer of the
metal.
Chile's peso rose 0.6% to the dollar on the rise in
prices of copper, Chile's largest export.
Chile's economic activity fell 5.3% in September
year-on-year but grew 5.1% from the previous month, the central
bank said on Monday, as the country emerged from the worst
period of the coronavirus pandemic.
Other Latam currencies moved in a flat-to-low range, as
anticipation of the U.S. election and holidays in Brazil and
Mexico - the region's largest economies - kept trading volumes
slim.
Mexico's peso fell 0.6%, while Colombia's peso
shed 0.2% as oil prices plunged in the face of laggard demand
due to new coronavirus-driven lockdowns across Europe.
"France, Germany, the UK and Belgium have announced that
they will be going back into lockdown... If we look at
pre-COVID-19 demand numbers, these four countries consumed the
equivalent of a little over 6% of global consumption," analysts
at ING wrote in a note.
"Another key uncertainty for the market is the U.S.
presidential election - A Biden victory could see the U.S.
taking a less hawkish stance with Iran, and so raising the
possibility that we see oil sanctions against Iran removed."
Weakness in commodity markets, coupled with jitters over the
U.S. election, have weighed on Latam assets in recent weeks.
Latam equities recovered slightly from their worst week in
six months, with the MSCI's index of regional stocks
gaining 0.4%.
Colombian markets were also closed for a holiday.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Stock indexes Latest Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1112.43 0.81
MSCI LatAm 1812.44 0.33
Chile IPSA 3581.02 1.16
Argentina MerVal - - Currencies Latest Daily % change
Mexico peso 21.3027 -0.62
Chile peso 769.3 0.55
Colombia peso 3876.68 -0.20
Peru sol 3.6147 0.00
Argentina peso 78.6500 -0.41
(interbank)
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan
Fenton)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.