* Chilean peso drops after voters reject new constitution * Brazil stocks lead equity gains * Argentina announces 'power sector emergency' * Stocks up 0.2%, FX off 0.1% By Siddarth S Dec 18 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks and currencies made a steady start on Monday holding onto gains from last week after the U.S. Federal Reserve's dovish tilt, while Argentina stocks rose as the government announced a power sector "emergency". MSCI's gauge for Latin American equities edged up 0.2% by 1517 GMT, while the broader currencies index was slightly down 0.1%. Investor sentiment on risk assets gained an upper gear after the Fed on Wednesday kept interest rates steady and struck a dovish tone of likely rate-cuts next year. The broader stocks had logged weekly gains of 3.7%, while the currencies index edged up 0.2% last week. Argentina's Merval index climbed 1.6%, after having lost 1.7% last week, as the new libertarian President Javier Milei announced a power sector "emergency", saying his government would tighten control over the country's local gas and electricity regulators. The official peso was down slightly at 802.60 per dollar. Last week, Milei rolled out his economic "shock therapy" plans that included a 50% devaluation of the official peso and cut down on energy subsidies as he looks to tackle the South American nation's worst crisis in decades. Market attention shifted to Chile, as its voters on Sunday rejected a new conservative constitution to replace its current text that dates back to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. The Andean nation's peso fell 0.4%, while lower copper prices also weighed further on the currency of the world's largest copper exporter. However, Chilean shares inched up 0.2%. "This is the second attempt to approve a new Constitution in Chile but unlike the previous process, this time the two options did not imply a binary scenario in terms of the macro and institutional framework of the country," JPMorgan said in a note. "This has been one of the main reasons why we have been flagging that from an equity market point of view this event should not affect fundamentals materially," JPMorgan added. The country's central bank will also give its monetary policy verdict on Tuesday, where it is expected to lower its benchmark interest rate by another 50 basis points to 8.5%. Boosting broader equities, Brazil's Bovespa index gained 0.5%, as the country's lower house approved a major consumption tax overhaul on Friday, seen as capable of boosting the country's potential growth. The real was steady. The Mexican peso dipped 0.4% , while the country's central bank could weigh a rate cut in the first quarter of 2024, the bank board's governor said in an interview published on Monday. Mexican private spending rose 1.2% during the third quarter compared with the previous three-month period, while aggregate demand remained unchanged, data showed. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1517 GMT: Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging 996.27 -0.46 Markets MSCI LatAm 2575.80 0.17 Brazil Bovespa 130814.6 0.47 3 Mexico IPC 56822.03 -0.54 Chile IPSA 6146.84 0.14 Argentina MerVal 939271.4 1.471 3 Colombia COLCAP 1167.96 0.46 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 4.9390 -0.05 Mexico peso 17.2756 -0.53 Chile peso 873.7 -0.21 Colombia peso 3921.6 0.44 Peru sol 3.7505 -0.09 Argentina peso 802.6000 -0.19 (interbank) Argentina peso 945 2.65 (parallel) (Reporting by Siddarth S in Bengaluru; editing by David Evans)
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Stocks mentioned in the article
Price
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Change
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5d. change
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Capi.
| ||
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1,042 USD | +1.26% | +3.72% | - | ||
2,463 USD | +1.73% | +2.65% | - | ||
9,235 PTS | +2.00% | +3.05% | - | ||
508 PTS | +1.56% | +1.14% | - | ||
360.4 PTS | +2.69% | +1.75% | - | ||
5,730 | -0.27% | -0.12% | - | ||
1,279,459 PTS | +4.39% | +27.95% | - | ||
935.1 ARS | -0.22% | +0.76% | - | ||
874.5 ARS | +0.11% | +0.40% | - | ||
5.471 BRL | -1.05% | -1.41% | - | ||
12.62 MXN | 0.00% | +0.86% | - | ||
18.33 MXN | -0.65% | +0.64% | - | ||
17.14 MXN | -0.37% | +0.33% | - | ||
0.6532 USD | 0.00% | +1.81% | - | ||
0.012 USD | 0.00% | 0.00% | - | ||
0.731 USD | 0.00% | +0.56% | - | ||
0.5938 USD | 0.00% | +0.88% | - | ||
1.069 USD | -0.32% | +0.37% | - | ||
57,834 PTS | +1.34% | +3.53% | - | ||
126,526 PTS | +1.51% | +1.12% | - | ||
1.249 USD | -0.12% | +0.99% | - | ||
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