EMERGING MARKETS-Latam markets drop on China worries
SAO PAULO, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies and stocks mostly fell on Tuesday as investors fretted over weak domestic growth and disappointing economic data in China, a leading trade partner for the region.
The broader MSCI Latin American stock index fell the most in a week, while the Brazilian real was on track to close at its weakest level since early 2003.
Data released on Tuesday showed that China's manufacturing sector shrank at its fastest pace in three years. China is a major purchaser of Latin American raw materials such as iron ore, copper, petroleum and soybeans.
Commodities prices fell the most in a week while oil prices plunged more than 6 percent.
Colombia, which counts petroleum as its main export, saw its peso snap a three-day rally and drop about 1.75 percent.
Brazil's real faced additional pressure after data showed Brazilian manufacturing activity contracted for a seventh straight month in August.
The Brazilian government on Monday for the first time ever sent Congress a budget bill that forecasts a primary deficit, raising fears of a potential sovereign credit downgrade.
A Fitch Ratings analyst said the budget bill underscores "growing risks to the trajectory of public finances." The benchmark Bovespa stock index fell the most in a week, mostly on the back of widely traded shares such as lender Itau Unibanco Holding SA and state-run oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras.
The most-traded shares tend to attract global investors seeking exposure to Brazilian assets and often swing on macroeconomic risk perception.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1551 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % Latest change change MSCI Emerging Markets 800.5 -2.23 -14.39 MSCI LatAm 2010.94 -2.26 -24.57 Brazil Bovespa 45680.6028 -2.03 -8.65 Mexico IPC 43183.04 -1.23 0.09 Chile IPSA 3796.28 -1.14 -1.42 Chile IGPA 18569.75 -0.99 -1.59 Argentina MerVal 10901.38 -1.19 27.07 Colombia IGBC 9432.72 -2.38 -18.93 Venezuela IBC 14900.12 0.54 286.14 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.6691 -1.17 -27.57 Mexico peso 16.8782 -0.77 -12.64 Chile peso 689 0.36 -11.99 Colombia peso 3109 -1.76 -23.19 Peru sol 3.2411 -0.15 -8.09 Argentina peso 9.3000 -0.03 -8.06 (interbank) Argentina peso 15.42 0.32 -9.21 (parallel) (Reporting by Asher Levine; Editing by Dan Grebler)
