MEXICO CITY: Latin American stocks fell on Friday, after comments from a Federal Reserve official renewed concerns that US stimulus could be wound down as soon as October.
The MSCI Latin American stock index snapped a five-day rally, falling 1.46 percent to 3,396.14.
The president of the St. Louis Fed, James Bullard, said on Friday that the US central bank could still scale back its massive bond-buying program at an October meeting should data point to a stronger economy.
The program has boosted investor appetite for risky emerging market assets, and the Fed's decision earlier this week to keep stimulus in place temporarily boosted markets.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index fell 1.79 percent, as shares of OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA , the oil company controlled by Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista, fell 5 percent. The company dismissed its chief financial officer, Roberto Bernardes Monteiro, on Friday, according to a securities filing.
State-run rival Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, fell 1.15 percent, while Ita? Unibanco Holding SA , Brazil's largest non-government bank, dropped 2.82 percent.
Local stocks with high liquidity such as Petrobras and Itau tend to attract foreign investors looking for exposure to Latin American equities.
Mexico's IPC index dropped 1.26 percent to 41,225.98.
Shares of bottling group Femsa dropped 1.07 percent, while lender Grupo Financiero Banorte slipped 1.63 percent.
Yields on Mexican interest rate swaps edged up after the central bank released the minutes from its latest policy-setting meeting on Friday. The bank was deeply divided in its decision, causing investors to pull back on bets for another interest rate cut in the coming months.
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