* Brazil industrial production unchanged in June
* Carry trade potential keeps Mexican peso buoyed
* Peru's Velarde amenable to stay on as cenbank chief
By Susan Mathew
Aug 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's real dropped 1.6% on Tuesday on
flat industrial production data and led declines across most
Latin American currencies, while Mexico's peso attempted to edge
back towards four-week highs.
The real hit its lowest in two weeks after
data showed industrial production was unchanged in June from the
previous month, with output falling in three of the four main
economic categories and 14 of the 26 sectors surveyed.
"The stagnation in Brazilian industrial production in June
suggests that industry made a negative contribution to
quarter-on-quarter GDP growth over the second quarter as a
whole," said William Jackson, chief EM economist at Capital
Economics.
"But with virus cases having fallen sharply, it looks like
the prospects for industry – and the economy more generally –
are brightening."
Most other currencies fell, tracking commodity prices as
sentiment was held in check by fears of a hit to a nascent
global economic recovery from a rise in COVID-19 cases,
especially in other parts of Latam and Asia, as the Delta
variant spreads.
Carry trade appeal kept Mexico's peso buoyed, rising
for the eighth session in 10 and helping it edge into positive
territory for the year. A hawkish central bank has helped keep
prospects for the peso from falling.
Peru's sol extended losses to a fourth straight
session to hit yet another low against the dollar as political
uncertainty prevailed after the appointment of a far-left prime
minister and a moderate finance minister.
Peruvian central bank President Julio Velarde, a highly
respected central banker, appears amenable to a proposal to stay
in his role under the new government, the economy ministry said.
Most Latam stocks fell, with oil major Petrobras
weighing the most on Brazil's Bovespa index as crude
prices fell. The index hit a 2-1/2 month low, down 1%.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at
Stock indexes Latest Daily %
change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1291.91 -0.09
MSCI LatAm 2474.79 -1.84
Brazil Bovespa 121249.29 -1.03
Mexico IPC 51107.63 0.47
Chile IPSA 4203.04 -0.18
Argentina MerVal 65660.29 -0.424
Colombia COLCAP 1232.09 -0.32
Currencies Latest Daily %
change
Brazil real 5.2499 -1.63
Mexico peso 19.8793 0.08
Chile peso 773.7 -0.75
Colombia peso 3917.4 -0.76
Peru sol 4.0782 -0.53
Argentina peso 96.8100 -0.01
(interbank)
(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan
Grebler)
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