Latin American Currencies: the worst of the week

By FXStreet Latin American currencies were the worst performers in the currency market during the week, affected by risk aversion and by the global growth outlook. The Argentinian peso lost the most and hit record lows as it continues to decline after lifting currency controls back in December.

The US dollar reached all-time highs in Colombia, Argentina and Mexico. USD/COP broke to the upside after moving in a range for days and reached 3450 on Thursday’s, and pulled back on Friday but ended the week above 3410.

The decline in crude oil prices weakened the Mexican peso further. USD/MXN started around 18.40 and on Thursday broke above 19.00 and kept rising. It peaked at 19.44 and on Friday retreated on the back of falling crude oil prices and finished the week around 18.90, up more than 2.50% from the level it had a week ago.

The best currency in the region was the Chilean peso. Economic data from Chile showed two versions: activity increased in December 1.5% YoY above expectations while inflation started the year higher that expected, with the CPI rising 0.5% in January (above 0.3% expected), pushing the annual rate to 4.8%. The central bank left interest rate …read more

Source:: FX Street