Mexico’s Peso Gains as U.S. Housing Report Boosts Export Outlook

Mexico’s peso advanced for a fourth day after a report showed U.S. new-home construction climbed to a four-year high, boosting the economic outlook for the Latin American country’s biggest trading partner.

The currency increased 0.4 percent to 13.0044 per U.S. dollar at 4 p.m. in Mexico City. The peso’s 7.2 percent rally in 2012 is the biggest among the dollar’s 16 most-traded counterparts tracked by Bloomberg.

U.S. housing starts rose 3.6 percent to an annual pace of 894,000, the fastest since July 2008, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. The figure beat the median estimate of 82 economists for a 840,000 starts. Mexico sends about 80 percent of its exports to its northern neighbor.

“Higher growth in the U.S. impacts Mexico for their close economic and financial relationship,” Flavia Cattan-Naslausky, a Stamford, Connecticut-based local markets strategist at RBS Securities Inc., said in an e-mailed message.

Yields on Mexico’s peso bonds due in 2024 rose one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 5.49 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The price fell 0.20 centavo to 139.71 centavos per peso.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Bain in Mexico City at bbain2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net