Mercados emergentes – Peso colombiano, las acciones caen debido a la condición basura

    * Fitch predicted to downgrade Colombia this year -GS
    * Chilean stocks surge on SQM gains
    * Eletrobras falls on bill to privatize firm

 (Adds comments, updates prices throughout)
    By Ambar Warrick and Shreyashi Sanyal
    May 20 (Reuters) - Colombia's peso and stocks tumbled on
Thursday after the Andean country lost one of its three
investment-grade ratings, while other Latin American currencies
were mostly mixed amid growing concerns over tighter U.S.
monetary policy. 
    The peso shed 1%, touching a one-week low to the
dollar after S&P Global Ratings lowered Colombia's rating to
junk bond status.
    Analysts said the downgrade had come earlier than
anticipated, while Wall Street banks JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley
and Goldman Sachs predicted that Fitch would follow suit with a
rating downgrade this year. 
    The downgrade follows violent anti-government protests over
a now-withdrawn tax proposal, as well as growing concerns over
strained fiscal spending and debt because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
    "We do expect Fitch to follow S&P in the near future given
our expectation that political restrictions will prevent the
authorities from delivering a meaningful structural tax reform,"
Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note. "Furthermore, rising
social activism may have negative implications for medium-term
investment/growth and the fiscal baseline, given intense demands
for additional spending." 
    Colombia's Colcap index tumbled 1.9% to 1,242.52
points, to a two-week low.
    "The Colcap index should see strong support ahead of the
1,200 level," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
"Colombia is one of the countries leading the recovery in LATAM,
so many investors might be looking to shortly jump back into the
Colombia assets."
    Other Latin American currencies were mixed after minutes on
Wednesday of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed
more talk of tapering the central bank's bond purchase program
than initially expected. 
    Brazil's real rose 0.9%, recovering from its
worst day in more than a week. The prospect of tighter monetary
policy in the country has benefited the real, as inflation heats
up in the country. 
    Mexico's peso rose 0.2%, although further gains were
hampered by a drop in oil prices. The Mexican economy is
expected to benefit from a post-COVID recovery in the United
States.
    Investors have also been watching for potential interest
rate hikes by the Mexican central bank, given a recent spike in
inflation.
    Chile's peso fell 0.6%, while Chilean stocks
 rose 0.5%. 
    Broader Latam stocks edged higher, with the MSCI's index of
regional stocks gaining 0.2%.
    Shares of Brazilian state power utility Eletrobras
 fell 2.7% from record highs, as the country's lower
house approved a bill to privatize the firm.
    
    Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: 
    
          Stock indexes                  Latest    Daily %
                                                   change
 MSCI Emerging Markets                    1330.41     0.22
 MSCI LatAm                               2485.02     0.23
 Brazil Bovespa                         122462.24    -0.14
 Mexico IPC                              49690.17     0.62
 Chile IPSA                               4047.28     0.42
 Argentina MerVal                        56785.09     1.42
 Colombia COLCAP                          1242.04    -1.86
                                                          
             Currencies                  Latest    Daily %
                                                   change
 Brazil real                               5.2709     0.85
 Mexico peso                              19.8768     0.20
 Chile peso                                 719.4    -0.74
 Colombia peso                            3715.05    -0.85
 Peru sol                                    3.71     0.81
 Argentina peso (interbank)               94.2400    -0.03
                                                   
 Argentina peso (parallel)                    152     2.63
                                                   
 

 (Reporting by Ambar Warrick and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru;
Editing by Barbara Lewis and Will Dunham)