(Updates with closing prices, adds details on inflation)
By Miguel Gutierrez
MEXICO CITY, July 9 (Reuters) - The Mexican peso weakened on
Monday after data showed consumer price pressures were higher
than expected in June, extending a trend of volatility in the
wake of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's victory at the
presidential elections earlier this month.
The peso retreated by 0.76 percent against the
dollar, while other emerging market currencies strengthened as
concerns faded of a full-blown U.S.-China trade war, which
hammered demand for risky assets in recent weeks.
The acceleration in Mexico's inflation in June was due to a
rise in energy costs, raising the possibility that the central
bank might hike interest rates again when it announces its next
monetary policy decision on Aug. 2.
"Investors are looking for opportunities to take profits
with the exchange rate being where it is just now," said James
Salazar, a CI Banco analyst. "The inflation data today - higher
than expected - was a good pretext."
The peso had seesawed after Lopez Obrador's July 1 victory,
plummeting initially due to concerns over his nationalist track
record, but bouncing back as he and his advisers sought to
assuage investors' angst.
The peso ended last week 4.4 percent stronger, its largest
weekly gain since October 2011.
Latin American stock markets rose as risk appetite
recovered. MSCI's Latin American index was up
1.1 percent, largely in line with a 1.5 percent increase in
MSCI's wider emerging-market index.
Brazil's stock market, the largest in the region, was closed
for a local holiday in São Paulo. Trading in the Brazilian real
was largely subdued as the holiday kept future markets
closed. Argentina's markets were also closed for a holiday.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2120 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD
pct pct
change change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1,075.74 1.49 -7.14
MSCI LatAm 2,551.23 1.12 -9.75
Mexico IPC 49,235.81 0.52 -0.24
Chile IPSA 5,325.52 0.77 -4.30
Chile IGPA 26,965.15 0.62 -3.63
Colombia IGBC 12,354.05 0.19 8.65
Currencies Latest Daily YTD
pct pct
change change
Mexico peso 19.22 -0.76 2.49
Chile peso 651.80 0.72 -5.70
Colombia peso 2,885 -0.38 3.36
Peru sol 3.276 0.24 -1.19
(Reporting by Miguel Gutierrez and Noe Torres in Mexico City
and Bruno Federowski in Sao Paulo
Editing by Leslie Adler)
