Latam stocks rise; commodity-linked currencies lead gains

Latin American stocks and currencies rose on Thursday as strong US jobs data pointed to a swift economic recovery from the coronavirus, with oil- and metal-linked currencies leading gains.

Data showed the US economy created jobs at a record pace in June as the country re-emerged from a coronavirus-driven lockdown. Wall Street rallied on the news, while the US dollar retreated.

Closer to home, Brazil's real and stocks gained after industrial production rose 7% in May, its second biggest monthly increase on record as economic activity started to pick up.

"Going forward, we expect the underperforming industrial sector to enter a gradual recovery path in tandem with the expected gradual easing of social distancing protocols and measures to limit movement and activity," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note.

Still, gains on the day were fairly constrained in Latin America as coronavirus cases and deaths continued to rise. Brazil, the region's largest economy, saw the death toll surpass 60,0000 on Wednesday, while the number of infections crossed 1.4 million.

The Mexican and Colombian pesos rose on a rise in oil prices, as crude markets bet on improving demand in the wake of the positive US jobs report.

Chile's peso rose about 0.9% as the prices of copper, Chile's top export, rallied due to supply disruptions in the country.

Global miner BHP said on Wednesday it would begin to ramp down activity at its small Cerro Colorado copper mine in Chile due to the coronavirus. The mine had produced 71,700 tonnes of copper in 2019, or approximately 1.2% of Chile_s total output.

Chilean stocks rose about 1.9%.

Emerging market equities had started the second half of the year on fairly solid footing, posting strong gains in the June quarter as they recovered from the coronavirus selldown. Still, they were well off pre-pandemic highs, as an increasing number of virus cases stifled extended gains.

Argentina's peso was muted for the day, as markets digested a report that the country may alter the proposed payment schedule for its restructured bonds.

The country's creditors have about 22 days to clinch a deal to revamp about $65 billion in distressed bonds.