Latin American stocks and currencies mostly fell on Friday following news that the FBI will review more emails related to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's private email use. Mexico's peso sank nearly 1.4 percent, blowing past 19 per dollar, as global markets were rattled by the news of the FBI probe, but the currency recovered a bit to end down 0.7 percent at 18.97 per dollar.
Brazil's currency bid 1.3 percent lower in its second straight day of losses after hitting its strongest level in more than a year on Wednesday. The Mexican peso has been particularly sensitive to the outlook for the US election, which is scheduled to take place on November 8.
The peso was battered to a record low near 20 per dollar in September as Republican candidate Donald Trump gained in the polls, but the currency has rallied as Clinton bounced back and then widened her lead. FBI Director James Comey said in a letter to several congressional Republicans the agency had learned of the existence of emails that appeared to be pertinent to its investigation of Clinton's private email use.
A Reuters poll of fund managers earlier on Friday showed the median expectation was for the peso to firm to 18 per dollar if Clinton wins or slump to 21 per dollar if Trump is victorious. Brazilian stocks gave back most of their gains after rising as much as 0.74 percent on Friday. Mexico's IPC stock index fell more than 1 percent, but clawed back from sharp losses to close down 0.22 percent.
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