SAO PAULO: Mexico's peso slipped to its weakest in more than four months on Monday, mirroring a fall in other Latin American currencies, ahead of the latest round of talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The peso fell 0.6 percent to 18.65 to the dollar, roughly in line with losses on the Brazilian and Colombian currencies.
Demand for high-yielding assets has waned since Friday, when data showing rising US wages fueled bets that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates faster than expected in coming months.
Fears of increased US protectionism have hit the Mexican peso particularly hard as the United States purchases over three-quarters of Mexico's exports.
Trade officials from Mexico, the United States and Canada meet on Wednesday in the Washington area for a fourth round of talks on renegotiating NAFTA amid signs of increasing tension over the accord between Mexico and the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Trump's "America First" policy has raised questions about his government's desire to maintain NAFTA. Mexican officials said last week that Trump risks sparking a "protectionist war" with his demands.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index slipped 1 percent, weighed down by a decline in shares of miner Vale SA on the heels of falling iron ore futures.
Still, shares in sewage and water utility Cia de Saneamento B?sico do Estado de S?o Paulo SA rose 2.4 percent after regulators sanctioned a 7.8888 percent tariff hike.
Chilean markets were closed for the Columbus Day holiday.
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