RIO DE JANEIRO: Latin American currencies gained on Friday as investors considered US jobs data not strong enough to justify an immediate interest-rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
The Brazilian real rallied 1.3 percent, leading gains among currencies in the region, after the data showed US job growth rebounded last month while the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest since May 2008.
However, March payrolls were revised down to show that job creation that month was the smallest since June 2012.
"Not the strong labor market release that could have put a June rate hike back on the table," Rob Carnell, an economist with ING, said in a report. "Even with a really good payrolls figure for May, the June rate hike option now looks dead and buried."
Emerging markets have posted losses whenever prospects for higher US rates grow, reducing the allure of higher-yielding assets in general.
Mexico's peso rose 1.1 percent even after data showed Mexican consumer confidence fell in April by the most in nine months.
In equity markets, Brazil's benchmark Bovespa index dipped 0.1 percent as shares of state-run oil company Petrobras lost about 2 percent, weighing the most on the index.
Petrobras could be hit again by losses on fuel imports as the price of gasoline in the Brazilian market has slipped below international market levels.
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