Mexico's Peso Rises for the First Time This Week on Global Stock Gains

Mexico’s peso strengthened for the first time this week as global stocks rose, fueling investor demand for emerging-market assets.

The peso rose 0.5 percent to 12.9960 per U.S. dollar at 10:15 a.m. New York time, from 13.0623 yesterday. The currency has risen 0.6 percent this year.

“The peso is reacting to and following changes in risk perception in global markets, and it’s behaving very much in line with concerns about a slowdown in the U.S.,” said Mario Correa, an economist with Grupo Financiero Scotiabank SA in Mexico City.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.9 percent after improved demand for Portuguese and Polish bonds eased concern Europe’s debt crisis is worsening. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.7 percent.

Mexico’s currency will gain to around 12.8 toward the end of the month, before Mexico’s inclusion in Citigroup Inc.’s World Government Bond Index, said Flavia Cattan-Naslausky, an emerging markets strategist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut.

The yield on Mexico’s 10 percent bond due in 2024 fell five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 6.56 percent, according to Banco Santander SA. The price of the security rose 0.55 centavo to 131.77 centavos per peso.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Roeder in Mexico City at jroeder@bloomberg.net

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