SAO PAULO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Latin American equities markets were steady or in the black across the region on Wednesday, as traders showed cautious optimism after an equities rout on Wall Street appeared to putter out.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa index showed little change, down 0.03 percent in afternoon trade, while Chile's benchmark IPSA jumped 0.44 percent.
Among major regional equities markets, only Mexico's IPC was significantly in the red, falling 0.17 percent after government data showed a contraction in investment in November.
Argentina's small and volatile Merval index led gains, popping 2.65 percent, due to optimism about the end of a slide in major markets as well as an ongoing rally in local energy stocks.
"The U.S. market stopped sliding, and that helped the Merval," said one Buenos Aires-based trader. "The recovery in the short-term could last a few days."
Among currency markets, the Chilean peso was the major winner, jumping 0.87 percent after the central bank posted a January trade surplus of $1.21 billion, up 7 percent from the previous year as prices for key export copper improved. The Mexican and Argentine peso currencies, as well as the Brazilian real , all slumped fairly modestly, thanks to a strengthening global dollar .
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1548 GMT:
Stock indexes daily % YTD %
Latest changechangeMSCI Emerging Markets 1177,38 0,11,53 MSCI LatAm 3087,770,298,87
Brazil Bovespa 83871,22 -0,039,78
Mexico IPC 49220,15 -0,17 -0,27
Chile IPSA 5722,620,442,84
Chile IGPA 28819,340,353,00
Argentina MerVal 32462,502,657,97
Colombia IGBC 11848,750,754,20
Venezuela IBC 0,00 0 -100,00
Currenciesdaily % YTD %
changechange
LatestBrazil real 3,2553 -0,331,78
Mexico peso 18,6580 -0,315,58
Chile peso 594,30,873,42
Colombia peso 2827,60,045,46Peru sol 3,2410,09 -0,12
Argentina peso (interbank)19,6200 -0,15 -5,20 Argentina peso (parallel) 19,830,30 -3,03 (Reporting by Gram Slattery; Additional reporting by Walter Bianchi in Buenos Aires; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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