* Latam FX heads for weekly losses
* Limited upside seen for Mexico's peso - analyst
* Chile's peso down over 4% this week on Escondida strike
fears
(Adds graphic, updates prices)
By Susan Mathew and Ambar Warrick
Aug 6 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies tumbled on
Friday as strong U.S. jobs data spurred fears of early policy
tightening by the Federal Reserve, while concerns over a strike
at a major copper mine saw Chile's peso set for its worst week
in nearly a decade.
The peso sank 1.3% to its lowest in more than nine
months as the union representing workers at Chile's Escondida
copper mine, the world's largest, instructed its members to
prepare for a strike due to slow progress in contract talks with
owner BHP Group.
The currency was set for a weekly loss of around 4.2%, its
worst since Sept. 2011, as the news reminded investors a
historic strike in 2017, which had dented Chile's economic
growth and disrupted global copper supplies.
Fears of a strike also offset data showing inflation rose in
July, indicating that the Chilean economy was heating up after a
COVID-induced lull.
The peso was the worst performing emerging market currency
for the week. Other Latin American (Latam) currencies also
dropped for the week, with losses deepening on Friday as the
dollar rallied on strong payrolls data.
Brazil's real swung wildly as investors weighed more
interest hikes against political ructions ahead of elections
next year. The currency is set to mark its third straight week
in the red.
A Brazilian congressional committee on Thursday voted
against a constitutional amendment to adopt printed ballots, in
a major defeat for far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, whose
popularity has taken a dive.
The Mexican peso fell 0.8% and was set to lose nearly
1% this week.
"With increasing (coronavirus) infection figures, concerns
are likely to grow in the future that renewed restrictions could
slow down the economic recovery (in Mexico) and thus also the
central bank's actions," Commerzbank analysts said in a note.
"Against this backdrop and in view of global risks, we
continue to see only limited MXN recovery potential."
Among stocks, Brazilian retailer Lojas Americanas
looked to snap a three-day winning streak after it said it had
"preliminary contact" with apparel retailer Marisa Lojas
, spurring bets for an offer.
Most Latam stock indexes fell, joining a broader sell-off in
emerging markets as the U.S. payrolls data triggered a mass exit
from risk-sensitive assets.
In bonds, JPMorgan has turned net bullish on hard-currency
emerging market sovereign and semi-sovereign debt by going
overweight on the EMBI Global Diversified index, the investment
bank said.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Latest Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1291.69 -0.65
MSCI LatAm 2491.40 -0.88
Brazil Bovespa 122737.68 0.91
Mexico IPC 51257.49 0.24
Chile IPSA 4276.02 0.84
Argentina MerVal 66093.49 -0.065
Colombia COLCAP 1225.75 -0.13 Currencies Latest Daily % change
Brazil real 5.2427 -0.51
Mexico peso 20.0722 -0.79
Chile peso 787.69 -1.29
Colombia peso 3954.6 -1.03
Peru sol 4.0868 -0.58
Argentina peso 96.9000 -0.01
(interbank)
(Reporting by Susan Mathew and Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru;
editing by Jonathan Oatis and Marguerita Choy)
Carmen Laforet es colaboradora en El Demócrata, donde cubre una amplia variedad de temas, incluyendo actualidad, política, negocios, tecnología, deportes, entretenimiento y estilo de vida. Su enfoque está en ofrecer información clara, útil y accesible, ayudando a los lectores a mantenerse informados sobre los acontecimientos actuales y las historias más relevantes.