* Economic data points at stable recovery in Brazil
* Brazil government presents public sector reform bill
* Sharp declines on Wall St hit global equities
* Mexican peso firms as labor market recovers
* LatAm currencies to pick up in near term -poll
(Updates prices throughout, adds comments)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Shreyashi Sanyal
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's real firmed to a near one-month
high on Thursday as a clutch of data raised hopes of a steady
post-pandemic economic rebound, while Latin American stocks
tracked declines on Wall Street as investors dumped high-flying
tech stocks.
The real firmed 1.2% to the dollar, gaining for a
third straight session as data showed industrial output rose 8%
in July at a much stronger pace than economists had expected.
The figures are the latest in a series of macroeconomic
indicators to suggest a pickup in business activity in Latin
America's biggest economy. Central bank chief Roberto Campos
Neto said on Wednesday the economy was on course to grow by 4%
or more in 2021.
"Overall, it looks like Brazil's economy is enjoying a
strong third quarter," said William Jackson, chief emerging
markets economist at Capital Economics. "However, with fiscal
tightening likely next year, we expect the pace of recovery to
slow sharply."
Brazil's government on Thursday presented to Congress a
constitutional reform bill aimed at simplifying and reducing the
cost of its public sector, which would make it easier to fire
civil servants and cut certain benefits, and gives the president
sweeping powers to eliminate public sector jobs and bodies.
Brazil's stock index fell 1.7%, with miner Vale SA
sliding 3.8% as Federal prosecutors in Brazil's Minas
Gerais state sought a court order to replace the company's
executives who are accused of disregarding safety methods in the
aftermath of two deadly mining disasters.
A broader index of regional equities slipped
for a second straight day as a 0.7% slide in the U.S. benchmark
S&P 500 knocked global investor sentiment.
Bourses in Mexico, Argentina and Colombia
shed more than 1%, while the Chilean stock index
remained flat.
The Mexican peso firmed 0.1% to the dollar as data
showed nearly 1.5 million more Mexicans were economically active
in the labor market in July compared with June.
Latin American currencies will pick up somewhat in the near
term as investors watch the U.S. presidential election campaign
for any hints about Washington's future approach toward the
region, a Reuters poll showed.
"The emerging market currencies that have generally
appreciated over the past few months on the back of the weak
dollar have been the higher rated credits with stronger
fundamentals across EM currencies," said from Jeff Grills, head
of emerging markets debt at Aegon Asset Management.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1934 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily %
change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1106.90 -1.07
MSCI LatAm 1996.42 -0.65
Brazil Bovespa 100311.48 -1.57
Mexico IPC 36466.03 -1.59
Chile IPSA 3816.06 0.03
Argentina MerVal 44531.17 -0.772
Colombia COLCAP 1246.95 -0.89
Currencies Latest Daily %
change
Brazil real 5.2904 1.23
Mexico peso 21.7280 -0.08
Chile peso 774.9 -0.53
Colombia peso 3681.15 -0.68
Peru sol 3.5498 -0.43
Argentina peso (interbank) 74.3700 -0.07
Argentina peso (parallel) 131 1.53
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Sagarika Jaisinghani in
Bengaluru
Editing by Chris Reese and Alistair Bell)
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