The greenback rose after Britain's chief negotiator for the long-awaited agreement to leave the European Union quit just hours after it had been unveiled, roiling markets and sending investors scurrying for safe bets.

Financial markets in Brazil were closed for a local holiday.

The Mexican peso was little changed with investors awaiting the central bank meeting later in the day when analysts expect a quarter basis point hike in interest rates to 8 percent.

Persistently high inflation and more recently, uncertainty about economic policy under the incoming government have led to a sharp weakening in the peso since the bank's last meeting in October.

"We expect the bank's communiqué to keep a hawkish tone and

to reiterate that Mexico requires a "prudent and firm" monetary policy stance," analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note.

"We do not envision changes in the forward guidance paragraph, and we think that the bank will underline that the balance of risks to inflation remains biased to the upside."

The Argentine peso declined half a percent. The country's senate passed the government's 2019 budget bill early on Thursday which projects 2019 inflation at 23 percent while expecting the economy to shrink 0.5 percent.

October inflation data for Argentina is expected later in the day with analysts at Citigroup forecasting a rise reflecting the pass-through from the peso's depreciation.

Among stock markets, Mexico's IPC index was flat, while Argentina's Merval rose more than 1.5 percent.