MEXICO CITY: Mexico and Brazilian currencies were on track to log weekly losses as market players fretted about turmoil in Greece and the possibility that the country could exit the euro.
Still, currencies in Latin Americas two largest economies were near flat in mid-day trading after a US consumer sentiment index hit four-year highs in early May helping offset jitters over Greece and news about a massive trading loss from Wall Street giant JP Morgan Chase & Co.
"Consumer sentiment numbers helped but I think what people have been doing is scaling back some of their concern about the JP Morgan news," said Nick Chamie, head of emerging markets research with RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
JPMorgan said it lost at least $2 billion from a failed hedging strategy - an embarrassing failure for the finance sector with investors already nervous over the shaky health of banks in Spain.
The Mexican peso was near flat to 13.542 per US dollar, after weakening for the past three sessions. Brazil's real was also near flat at 1.9515 per dollar.
Chamie said investors were not making big bets in risky assets ahead of any further developments in the Greece saga over the weekend.
Politicians there are trying to overcome a deadlock that could force new elections where an anti-austerity, leftist candidate is favored, raising fears the country could tear up its international bailout deal.
Credit rating agency Fitch put the whole of the euro zone on notice on Friday that were Greece to leave the currency bloc, the remaining countries could find their sovereign ratings at risk.
Global growth fears tend to steer investors away from riskier assets like Latin American currencies. Brazil tends to be particularly sensitive to economic indicators from China, a top trading partner, where data showed factory output slowed more than expected in April.
The peso is on track to lose about 2.6 percent this week in what could be its weakest weekly performance since late November.
The real has lost around 1.1 percent so far this week, as it is heads toward its fifth consecutive week of losses.
Chile's peso weakened 0.1 percent, to bid at 486.70 per dollar. It has lost 0.7 percent so far this week.
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