BRASILIA: The Mexican peso climbed to a two-week high against the dollar on Friday as investors cheered President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum’s pick for the cabinet positions, while a gauge of Latin American stocks looked set for the first weekly rise in five.
The peso firmed to 18.15 per dollar, touching its strongest level since June 7, but weaker than pre-election levels.
Other Latam currencies including the Brazilian real and the Colombian peso also firmed on Friday but were headed for weekly losses.
Mexico’s Sheinbaum on Thursday named six members of her incoming cabinet, including business-friendly Marcelo Ebrard as economy minister, putting him in charge of trade negotiations.
Ebrard will oversee the Mexican side of the 2026 review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade pact.
“These appointments were well-received by the markets and business community as they have the expertise and credentials for the job, in contrast with appointments in the AMLO administration,” noted Ernesto Revilla, Latin America economist at Citi.
“While these appointments contrast with the more disruptive Constitutional reform agenda, they show that the Sheinbaum administration will be continually facing trade-offs between the institutional/social reform agenda promised by her in the campaign and a more pragmatic, business-friendly stance.”
The Bank of Mexico’s monetary policy decision is due next week, with several traders now expecting policymakers delay rate cuts until August.
Mexican shares shed 0.6%.
In contrast, Brazil’s main Bovespa stock index rose nearly 0.9%. Sabesp advanced 2.8% after Sao Paulo state gave final approval to privatize the water utility firm, which can launch a share sale in coming days.
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