(Updates prices, adds GDP news from Brazil, Mexico and Peru)
By Bruno Federowski
SAO PAULO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies mostly weakened on Tuesday ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting this week that could bolster expectations of higher U.S. interest rates going forward.
The Fed will publish its policy statement on Wednesday following a two-day meeting. Some economists expect it to raise its economic assessment, which would strengthen expectations ofthe U.S. central bank raising interest rates four times this year.
Higher U.S. rates could weigh on demand for emerging market assets, which typically offer higher yields.
Traders also avoided risky assets ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address later on Tuesday.
"Trade, immigration, and infrastructure are the most highly anticipated areas of focus. Foreign policy will also be closely scrutinized as market participants look to comments on North Korea, Iran, and potentially Russia," analysts at Scotiabank wrote in a client note.
Currencies from Brazil , Mexico and Colombia weakened between 0.08 and 0.83 percent.
Stocks fell in the region in the wake of the risk-aversion, with MSCI's Latin American index down 0.78 percent.
In Brazil, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said economic reforms, reduction of the state's presence in the economy and higher productivity may boost the country's growth rate to between 3.5 percent and 4 percent. Mexico's economy, meanwhile, grew around 1.0 percent in seasonally adjusted terms in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary government data released on Tuesday. The uptick surpassed an earlier Reuters poll that forecast an expansion of 0.6 percent. In Peru, the economy likely grew 2.5 percent in 2017, Finance Minister Claudia Cooper told local radio on Tuesday, hurt by weak expansion in investment and internal demand. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2152 GMT:
Stock indexesLatestDaily pctYTD pct
change changeMSCI Emerging Markets1,247.63 -1.67.7 MSCI LatAm 3,172.01-0.7812.16 Brazil Bovespa 84,482.46-0.2510.58Mexico IPC 50,382.86 -0.5 2.08Chile IPSA 5,859.61-0.35 5.30Chile IGPA 29,422.21-0.33 5.15Argentina MerVal34,241.26-1.5713.89 Colombia IGBC 12,265.46-0.99 7.87Venezuela IBC 3,836.83 2.03 203.75
Currencies LatestDaily pctYTD pct
change changeBrazil real 3.1811-0.08 4.16Mexico peso 18.7805-0.83 4.89Chile peso 606.6 0.01 1.33Colombia peso 2,851.35-0.54 4.58Peru sol 3.216 0.00 0.65Argentina peso19.6300-0.20-5.25(interbank) Argentina peso19.99 0.20-3.80(parallel) (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Rosalba O'Brien)
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