SAO PAULO: The currencies of Brazil and Mexico sagged on Friday on fears of a possible military strike in Syria and uncertainty regarding the future of US stimulus measures.
Investors avoided big bets in emerging-market assets as geopolitical tensions grew before a long holiday weekend in the United States, with US Secretary of State John Kerry making a forceful case for a limited military action against Syria.
US President Barack Obama later reiterated the United States is looking at a "limited" military action, not an "open-ended" commitment against Syria, which he accused of using chemical weapons and threatening US national security interests.
Uncertainty about the timing of an expected reduction in US bond purchases - a stimulus program that for years has supported global appetite for risk - continued to weigh on emerging market currencies in general.
The Mexican peso dipped 0.1 percent to 13.3620 per dollar while the Chilean peso ended little changed at 510.10 per dollar.
In Brazil, a thin market exacerbated currency swings, driving the real more than 1 percent lower in the afternoon.
The real later trimmed losses, falling about 0.5 percent to 2.3809 per greenback, supported by a series of central bank auctions in the spot and futures markets that are part of an intervention program worth $60 billion announced last Thursday.
"The FX intervention measures announced last week seem to be sufficient in the near-term to offer consistent FX hedge and deter against aggressive short positions on the Brazilian real," Siobhan Morden, head of Latin America strategy at Jefferies, wrote in a research note.
As part of their official schedule, Brazilian policymakers sold an unspecified amount of dollars on the spot market with repurchase date set for April 2. They also sold 30,000 traditional currency swaps, derivatives designed to support the real, which were not part of their Friday intervention schedule.
On Monday, the central bank will offer another 30,000 swaps - 10,000 contracts expiring on Dec 2, which are part of their regular intervention schedule, plus an additional 20,000 swaps maturing in March 2
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