MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's Bovespa closes above 92.000 points for the first time ever

Sao Paulo stock market bench market index soars on expectations of stronger demand for commodities

Latin American stocks in the region's main markets closed on Tuesday at new highs on the positive outlook for the ongoing US/China trade talks in Beijing. Brazil's Bovespa index ended trading above 92,000 points for the first time ever after hitting several record highs last week.

Meat processor BRF, was the highest gainer on the index with traders optimistic about U.S.-China trade negotiations, which could bring relief to commodity prices such as soybeans, benefiting the food maker.

Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes was the top loser, with its preferred shares closing down 1.3% after it released preliminary fourth-quarter results.

To the north, Mexico's benchmark index hit a near two-month high on news of expected tax cuts for companies taking the IPO route, as global equities gained on optimism over U.S.-China trade talks.

The dollar rebounded from Monday's near three-month low, mainly at the euro's expense, pressuring many emerging currencies, but a lift in oil prices helped currencies of net exporters in Latin America.

MSCI's index for Latin American stocks hovered around two-month highs, pushed up by a 1.6% rise in Mexico's IPC index after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government said it would seek to boost initial public offerings by giving tax cuts to owners of companies that list.

Investors saw the move as a positive step after being shaken last year over worries about policymaking under the new administration, particularly the scrapping of an airport project that Lopez Obrador said was tainted by corruption.

Likewise Indexes in Colombia and Chile also rose, but Buenos Aires' Merval Index fell 0.3%, led by declines in bank shares.

Currencies in the region outperformed their emerging market peers with the Colombian peso leading gains after oil prices rose more than 2% on the trade talk optimism.

Brazil's real and Chile's peso gained, but Argentina's peso fell 0.7% in response to a drop in the rate paid by the central bank in a bidding for Liquidity Letters “Leliq.”