By Bruno Federowski
SAO PAULO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The Mexican peso turned
weaker on Tuesday after a powerful earthquake hit the south of
the country, which made the country's stock exchange suspend
trading.
The 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook buildings in the capital
of Mexico City and sent people fleeing into the street.
The Mexican peso dipped 0.2 percent after firming
as much as 0.2 percent earlier.
The move decoupled the peso from other Latin American
currencies, which had traded mostly flat on the first day of the
Federal Reserve's widely awaited two-day meeting.
The U.S. central bank is expected to provide further clues
on when it will hike interest rates again. Many bet it will also
announce it will begin trimming its massive portfolio of assets,
another step in its efforts to unwind the extraordinary stimulus
set up during the financial crisis.
"What we're seeing in the markets is the calm before the
storm," Coinvalores trader Paulo Nepomuceno said.
Analysts widely expect the pace of policy tightening in the
United States to be a major driver of currency moves in emerging
markets, which have for years enjoyed steady investor demand as
central banks pumped liquidity into developed markets.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1900 GMT:
Stock indexes daily % YTD %
change change
Latest
MSCI Emerging Markets 1109.66 -0.29 29.07
MSCI LatAm 2990.51 -0.12 27.92
Brazil Bovespa 76018.98 0.04 26.22
Chile IPSA 5202.05 0.81 25.31
Chile IGPA 25973.23 0.73 25.27
Argentina MerVal 24080.86 0.7 42.34
Colombia IGBC 11131.16 -0.33 9.90
Venezuela IBC 436716.72 3.15 1277.43
Currencies daily % YTD %
change change
Latest
Brazil real 3.1346 0.00 3.66
Mexico peso 17.7925 -0.18 16.59
Chile peso 624.9 0.00 7.33
Colombia peso 2893.9 0.41 3.72
Peru sol 3.246 -0.06 5.18
Argentina peso (interbank) 17.1350 -0.15 -7.35
Argentina peso (parallel) 17.9 0.11 -6.03
(Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Chris Reese and
Chizu Nomiyama)