Yahoo Finance EMERGING MARKETS-Brazil stocks fall on profit-taking, Mexico peso dips
(Updates prices, adds details throughout) By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks dipped on Thursday as traders booked profits from a recent rally, though increased confidence in prospects for structural reforms in Latin America's largest economy helped to curb losses.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index fell 0.54 percent at 66,777.13 points, a day after closing above the 67,000-point threshold on Wednesday for the first time since mid-May.
The move came after the lower house of Brazil's Congress voted to reject a corruption charge against President Michel Temer, saving him from facing a possible Supreme Court trial that could have ousted him from office.
Analysts at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group raised the probability they attribute to Temer finishing his term to 70 percent from 60 percent, giving additional impetus to his efforts to streamline Brazil's social security system.
Temer's support was less than hoped for, however, raising questions about how he will fare in future congressional votes on more charges likely to be lodged against him.
Shares of Suzano Papel e Celulose SA dipped 0.9 percent after jumping 11 percent over the previous two trading days. The wood pulpmaker had reported a 79 percent drop in second-quarter net profit.
A Reuters poll found Brazilian and Mexican currencies will weaken less than previously thought against the U.S. dollar during the next 12 months as low interest rates abroad offset political uncertainty at home.
The Brazilian real ended the day up 0.2 percent, after seesawing throughout the session, tracking many other Latin American currencies as traders awaited the release of key U.S. jobs data on Friday that could provide further hints over the Federal Reserve's pace of interest rate hikes.
The Mexican peso slipped 0.22 percent, with traders remaining cautious despite a Fitch Ratings decision to revise the outlook on the country's sovereign rating to "stable" from "negative." Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2059 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change MSCI Emerging Markets 1,064.05 -0.55 24.09 MSCI LatAm 2,784.56 0.15 18.79 Brazil Bovespa 66,798.04 -0.54 10.91 Mexico S&P/BMV IPC 51,303.45 0.2 12.40 Chile IPSA 5,066.34 -0.6 22.04 Chile IGPA 25,296.22 -0.6 22.00 Argentina MerVal 21,763.79 -0.16 28.64 Colombia IGBC 10,935.76 -0.23 7.97 Venezuela IBC 157,390.94 7.16 396.42 Currencies Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change Brazil real 3.1129 0.20 4.38 Mexico peso 17.8485 -0.22 16.22 Chile peso 648.12 0.49 3.48 Colombia peso 2,954.3 0.24 1.60 Peru sol 3.239 0.00 5.40 Argentina peso (interbank) 17.6550 -0.37 -10.08 Argentina peso (parallel) 18.13 0.72 -7.23 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski, editing by G Crosse)
