Latin American currencies held on to recent gains as investors hoped a meeting between President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders would lead to a deal to extend the US debt ceiling, averting a historic default. News of the meeting, scheduled for this afternoon but later postponed, drove key US stock indexes into positive territory and encouraged investors to retain positions in emerging markets.
Latin American currencies had rallied on Friday as investors hoped US lawmakers would make progress during the weekend toward a deal to increase the nation's debt ceiling. The Brazilian real ended little changed at 2.1765 per dollar, its strongest close since mid-June. Talk that the central bank could decide not to rollover all of the $8.9 billion worth of currency swaps that expire on November 1 caused the real to post some losses earlier.
Mexico's peso was practically flat at 12.9883 per dollar, holding past the psychological relevant level of 13 per dollar. Trading volumes were low across the region as many investors were on the sidelines awaiting a solution to the US fiscal crisis, and others were out of the office due to the US Columbus Day holiday.
Comments
Comments are closed.