Currencies of major Latin American crude exporters barring the Colombian peso drew tepid response from a rally in oil prices on Monday, following an attack on Saudi Arabian refining facilities that cut more than 5% of the global oil supply.
Oil prices surged nearly 20% at one point on Monday, after the attack in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, halved the kingdom's production.
But prices came off their peaks after President Donald Trump authorized the use of the US emergency stockpile to ensure stable supply but inflamed geopolitical tensions after he said the United States was "locked and loaded" for a potential response to the strikes.
While currencies of some oil-exporters benefit from the steep rise in oil prices, concerns that an oil supply shock and growing geopolitical tensions would damage an already fragile global economy sapped investor demand for riskier assets.
"The jump in oil prices in this case is not stemming from economic growth factors for exporters but from geopolitical tensions which has a certain risk sentiment attached to it," said Cristian Maggio, head of emerging markets strategy at TD Securities.
The only notable gainer in the region from the surge in oil prices was the Colombian peso which moved 0.4% higher. The Brazilian real and the Mexican peso, were both lower.
Chile's peso fell 0.3% after weak Chinese data fueled worries about demand for copper. Stock indices in the region were lower in the early hours of trading with Brazil's Bovespa down 0.1%. Stock markets in Mexico were shut for a local holiday.
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