EMERGING MARKETS-Mexican peso strengthens on reassurance from Mnuchin

 (Recasts, adds table)
    By Bruno Federowski
    SAO PAULO/MEXICO CITY, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Mexico's peso
strengthened to its highest level in more than three months on
Thursday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that
any policies enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump would have a
limited impact this year. 
    In an interview with Fox Business Network, Mnuchin said he
did not see any changes to the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) in the short-term and said the Trump
administration has concerns about certain aspects of a border
adjustment tax.
    The peso strengthened more than 1.5 percent to
19.61 per dollar before paring gains.
    In a Reuters interview with Trump later on Thursday, the
U.S. president said he supported some form of an adjustment tax,
without offering details.
    In Brazil, the real strengthened 0.45 percent, a day
after central bank policymakers voted to cut the benchmark Selic
rate by 75 basis points for the second straight time to 12.25
percent.
    In a statement, the bank said the future pace of loosening
will hinge on the evolution of economic activity and inflation.
    Traders said U.S. data on Thursday showing a slight rise in
weekly jobless claims reinforced expectations the Federal
Reserve will increase interest rates at a gradual pace
throughout the year. 
    The Fed failed on Wednesday to provide a clear signal of a
rate hike in March in the minutes from its latest policy
meeting.
    A gradual pace of U.S. rate tightening would be good news
for emerging market assets, which tend to lure investors seeking
higher yields.
    
    Key Latin American stock indexes at 2200 GMT:
 Stock indexes        Latest        Daily pct    YTD pct
                                       change     change
 MSCI Emerging              952.12       0.12      10.42
 Markets                                       
 MSCI LatAm               2.668.48      -0.42      14.01
                                               
 Brazil Bovespa          67.461.39      -1.64      12.01
                                               
 Mexico IPC              47.206.36       0.02       3.43
 Chile IPSA               4.359.13      -0.38       5.00
 Chile IGPA              21.797.22      -0.34       5.13
 Argentina MerVal        19.538.09      -1.89      15.49
                                               
 Colombia IGBC           10.015.94       0.87      -1.11
                                               
 Venezuela IBC           34.933.43       0.18      10.18
                                               
 
 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)