Latam currencies outperform EM peers; stocks down with global selloff

Latin American currencies outperformed their emerging market peers on Monday, while stocks in the commodity-heavy region slipped with a global sell-off in global markets spurred by concerns about growth in China as investors focused on protests there.

The U.S. dollar index DXY swung between gains and losses and was last up 0.3%. MSCI's index of Latin American currencies (.MILA00000CUS) edged 0.1% up against the dollar while an index of all emerging-market currencies (.MIEM00000CUS) dropped 0.4%.

Protests against strict COVID-19 curbs in the world's second-largest economy pushed the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 SPX down 1.6%. A LatAm stocks index (.MILA00000PUS) dipped 0.5% while emerging market stocks overall EEFS declined 1.1%.

"...People are struggling to think about, first of all, what's happening in China with these protests, how the government is going to respond and how that's going to feed into global trade and global growth," said Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights.

"But, compared to other markets, for example oil that has fallen quite sizably, the currency markets are still sort of looking for a direction."

The Brazilian real USDBRL added 0.8%, leading gains among regional currencies. President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to announce his economic team in the coming days, a close aide said, as speculation grows about who will be the country's next finance minister.

Uncertainty about Lula's cabinet picks and fiscal policy rattled Brazilian assets this month, with the currency shedding 3.5%.

A broad measure of Brazilian consumer and business credit default ratios rose in October to its highest level in almost four years, central bank data showed, amid high borrowing costs and aggressive monetary tightening.

Mexico's peso USDMXN rose 0.2%. The country posted a $986 million trade deficit in October in seasonally adjusted terms.

Colombia is preparing to carry out a debt swap for global bonds in dollars due in 2033, in exchange for bonds due to mature in 2023 and 2024. Its currency peso USDCOP rose 0.6% against the dollar.

Currencies of copper producers Chile USDCLP and Peru USDPEN gained 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively, against the dollar.

Workers at Chile's Escondida mine accepted a new offer from BHP BHP and will not move forward with a strike that had been planned for Monday and Wednesday, their union said Monday.

Chevron Corp CVX on Saturday received a U.S. license allowing the second-largest U.S. oil company to expand its production in Venezuela and bring the South American country's crude oil to the United States.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2010 GMT: