By Purvi Agarwal
Latin American currencies were mixed on Wednesday, with the Brazilian real slightly weaker against the dollar ahead of central bank meetings in both countries, while stocks gained following a slew of corporate earnings.
The dollar TVC:DXY fell to a four-year low after President Donald Trump brushed off the currency's decline, saying its value was "great", though later recovered some ground.
Markets will be closely watching comments from Federal Reserve policymakers later in the day on the interest rate path outlook that could set the tone for markets this week.
The central bank is expected to hold rates at its meeting.
"That (Trump's comments) reinforced one of the narratives that is behind the USD's slide to begin with - the premise that the U.S. administration is okay with a weaker USD," said Thierry Wizman, global currency and rates strategist at Macquarie Group.
"The move in the dollar has also prompted a lot of hedging, mainly to protect the U.S. dollar exposure in foreign investment accounts."
In Latin America, the Brazilian real FX_IDC:USDBRL slipped 0.1% ahead of the central bank's monetary policy decision, which is expected to leave the Selic rate at the near two-decade-high of 15%.
Mexico's peso FX_IDC:USDMXN fell 0.5%, after logging its biggest one-day jump since April on Tuesday. Colombia's peso FX_IDC:USDCOP depreciated the most, down 1% against the dollar.
On the flip side, Chile's peso FX_IDC:USDCLP gained 0.3%, aided by rising copper prices. Chile's central bank held rates steady at 4.50% on Tuesday, as expected.
Still, MSCI's index tracking Latin American currencies (.MILA00000CUS) was 0.4% higher, set for its eighth session of gains.
Stocks in the region also gained, largely boosted by a slew of corporate earnings and rising commodity prices.
Brazil's Vale BMFBOVESPA:VALE3 gained 2.5% after its iron ore production rose to 336.1 million metric tons in 2025, surpassing rival Rio Tinto's Pilbara operations in Australia for the first time since 2018. The benchmark index BMFBOVESPA:IBOV was up 1.7%.
Bourses in Colombia BVC:ICAP and Argentina BCBA:IMV rose 0.9% and 0.6% respectively.
A 2% gain in Grupo Mexico BMV:GMEXICO/B, one of the world's largest copper producers, after it nearly doubled its fourth-quarter net profit on higher metals prices and stronger volumes helped lift the Mexican benchmark index BMV:ME.
Banorte BMV:GFNORTE/O, gained 4.6% after the financial group said on Tuesday that fourth-quarter profit climbed 16% from a year earlier on strong consumer loan growth.
The recent surge in commodity prices has helped lift stocks of miners and producers in resource-heavy LatAm countries, setting up MSCI's gauge of regional equities (.MILA00000PUS) for its eighth consecutive session of gains.
Elsewhere in emerging markets, ratings agency Fitch downgraded Afreximbank to junk and withdrew future ratings - a final move in a relationship with the African lender that had become combative.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Latin American market prices from Reuters
Equities
Latest
Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets CBOE:EFS
1555.38
1.73
MSCI LatAm (.MILA00000PUS)
3215.81
1.52
Brazil Bovespa BMFBOVESPA:IBOV
185064.76
1.73
Mexico IPC BMV:ME
69405.54
0.77
Chile IPSA BCS:SP_IPSA
11564.78
-0.53
Argentina Merval BCBA:IMV
3272785.8
0.88
Colombia COLCAP BVC:ICAP
2510.7
0.58
Currencies
Latest
Daily % change
Brazil real FX_IDC:USDBRL
5.1861
-0.11
Mexico peso FX_IDC:USDMXN
17.214
-0.50
Chile peso FX_IDC:USDCLP
854.69
0.28
Colombia peso FX_IDC:USDCOP
3657.11
-1.04
Peru sol FX_IDC:USDPEN
3.3373
0.22
Argentina peso (interbank) FX_IDC:USDARS
1440
0.34
Argentina peso (parallel) (ARSB=)
1465
0.17