(There will be no stock market report on Wednesday due to the
Christmas holiday. Reuters will resume coverage on Thursday.)
* Brazil, Argentina shut on Christmas Eve
* Mexican peso flat in shorter trading session
(Recasts, updates prices, adds quote)
By Medha Singh
Dec 24 (Reuters) - Latin America stocks and currencies were
looking to close the final week of the year with gains as
cooling trade tensions drove demand in thin Christmas Eve
trading.
With markets in Brazil and Argentina closed and a light
economic calendar, analysts do not expect any significant moves
in emerging market assets, with low trading volumes.
Mexico's peso edged lower against the dollar as data
showed Latin America's No. 2 economy contracted in October from
September in seasonally adjusted terms, marking a poor fourth
quarter start after nine months of stagnation.
Consumer prices fell short of the Mexican central bank's 3%
inflation target in the first half of December, a report on
Monday showed, raising the chances of further monetary easing.
"The Mexican economy is still not taking off ... One of the
challenges of the Mexican government will be to reactivate local
and foreign investment in infrastructure projects," Alfonso
Esparza, currency analyst at OANDA, said.
The Mexican peso has outperformed other currencies in the
region this year, with the trade-sensitive currency's December
gains supported by the U.S. House approval of new North American
trade deal and an initial U.S.-China trade pact.
Improving Sino-U.S. trade relations have also put the MSCI's
index of Latin American currencies on course for
its best monthly percentage gain this year.
But some analysts pointed to creeping doubts over how an
initial trade deal could work toward resolving the nearly
two-year long dispute, which has dented global business
sentiment.
The Chilean peso firmed 0.5%, while the country's
stock index edged 0.2% lower.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1816 GMT:
Stock indexes daily % change
Latest
MSCI Emerging Markets 1108.99 -0.24
MSCI LatAm 2905.69 -0.47
Brazil Bovespa - -
Mexico IPC 44142.08 -0.3
Chile IPSA 4714.65 -0.24
Argentina MerVal - -
Colombia IGBC 1666.62 0.09 Currencies daily % change
Latest
Brazil real - -
Mexico peso 18.9765 -0.13
Chile peso 750.2 0.55
Colombia peso 3294.5 0.47
Peru sol 3.3118 0.19
Argentina peso (interbank) - -
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru, additional reporting by
Abraham González; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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