By Susan Mathew April 3 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies weakened on Friday, putting an index of regional currencies on course to mark its seventh straight weekly loss as recession fears kept the safe-haven dollar well-bid despite a dismal U.S. jobs report. Brazil's real slipped 0.8% to a record low, while Mexico's peso dropped 1.7%, taking MSCI's index of regional currencies down 1%. The index is set to end the week about 3.5% lower. Colombia's currency, meanwhile, firmed 1% as oil prices jumped. An OPEC source saying the cartel and its allies are working on a deal for an unprecedented production cut equivalent to about 10% of global supply sent oil prices soaring, adding to a more than 20% surge on Thursday. Following a jump in U.S. jobless claims over the last two weeks, data on Friday showed job losses in March were significantly higher than anticipated. The data all but confirmed a recession. Investors scurried to the safety of the greenback as analysts predict April's number to be much larger due to wide-spread shutdowns to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. "It's important to see the numbers going forward and to see how the aid packages play out. In the bigger picture this data doesn't mean that much, until we get a better picture of how the whole situation plays out," said Justin Lederer, treasury analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York. The data painted a bleaker picture for economies in Latam, such as Mexico, that are highly dependant on the United States. March service sector numbers coming in weaker in many emerging economies, including Brazil, further dented sentiment. Wall Street stock indexes fell following the jobs report, and most regional markets followed suit. MSCI's Latam stocks index was set for a weekly loss of around 3.8%. A 4.2% slump in Brazil's Bovespa index was led by an 11% drop in shares of steelmaker Usiminas after the company announced a production cut amid a sharp decline in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chilean stocks jumped 3.8%, led higher by a 14% surge in utility Enel Americas after Italian majority shareholder Enel said it would raise its stake in the company to 65%. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1433 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 831.34 -0.86 MSCI LatAm 1478.04 -3.72 Brazil Bovespa 69152.57 -4.29 Mexico IPC 33448.36 -0.42 Chile IPSA 3694.17 3.79 Argentina MerVal 26365.73 1.394 Colombia COLCAP 1106.11 -0.75 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.2970 -0.61 Mexico peso 24.5897 -1.50 Chile peso 864.2 -0.62 Colombia peso 4005.36 0.47 Peru sol 3.4548 -0.43 Argentina peso 64.8600 -0.22 (interbank) (Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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