Latam FX steady, stocks jump

BRASILIA: Latin American currencies were mixed in choppy trading while stocks advanced on Wednesday as investors assessed more US trade deals and whether the most severe of President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be avoided.

On Tuesday, the US signed a deal with Japan to lower hefty import duties on Japanese imports and secured a $550 billion package of US-bound investment and loans from Tokyo.

Trump also announced a new 19% tariff rate for both the Philippines and Indonesia, lower than the rate threatened earlier this month, sending local equities soaring.

Markets have shown resilience in the face of sweeping US duties, in hopes of more trade deals that could mitigate them ahead of Trump’s August 1 deadline.