Chile's peso leads Latam gains after positive China data

Chile's peso led gains across Latin American currencies on Monday as positive Chinese manufacturing data supported copper prices, although sentiment remained subdued in the lead-up to the US presidential election.

Activity in China's factory sector accelerated at the fastest pace in nearly a decade in October, supporting copper prices, given that China is the world's largest consumer of the metal.

Chile's peso rose 0.6% to the dollar on the rise in prices of copper, Chile's largest export.

Chile's economic activity fell 5.3% in September year-on-year but grew 5.1% from the previous month, the central bank said on Monday, as the country emerged from the worst period of the coronavirus pandemic.

Other Latam currencies moved in a flat-to-low range, as anticipation of the US election and holidays in Brazil and Mexico - the region's largest economies - kept trading volumes slim.

Mexico's peso fell 0.6%, while Colombia's peso shed 0.2% as oil prices plunged in the face of laggard demand due to new coronavirus-driven lockdowns across Europe.

"France, Germany, the UK and Belgium have announced that they will be going back into lockdown... If we look at pre-COVID-19 demand numbers, these four countries consumed the equivalent of a little over 6% of global consumption," analysts at ING wrote in a note.

"Another key uncertainty for the market is the US presidential election - A Biden victory could see the US taking a less hawkish stance with Iran, and so raising the possibility that we see oil sanctions against Iran removed."

Weakness in commodity markets, coupled with jitters over the US election, have weighed on Latam assets in recent weeks.

Latam equities recovered slightly from their worst week in six months, with the MSCI's index of regional stocks gaining 0.4%.

Colombian markets were also closed for a holiday.