MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latam stocks and currencies hit by global trade disputes

Brazil's Real was nearly flat as the best-performing currency in the region, after the central bank said it would continue to intervene with currency swaps

Latin American stocks and currencies mostly fell on Monday as the trade dispute between the United States and other leading economies worsened, but central bank intervention kept the Brazilian real steady.

A U.S. government official on Sunday said the Treasury Department was drafting curbs that would block firms with at least 25% Chinese ownership from buying U.S. companies with “industrially significant technology.”
Concerns over escalating global trade tensions have hammered high-risk, emerging-market assets in recent weeks.

The Brazilian Real was nearly flat as the best-performing currency in the region, after the central bank announced it would continue to intervene in currency markets by selling currency swaps, which function like sales of dollars for future delivery. It did not disclose how many swaps it expected to sell, as it had done in previous weeks.

The benchmark Bovespa stock index was however down 0.8%, tracking widen weakness among emerging market stocks. Blue chip stocks, such as miner Vale S.A. and lender Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, led the decline.

In Argentina, struck by a national protest stoppage, the Merval stock index was down 3.73% while the Peso remained relatively steady at 27/29 Pesos to the US dollar.