BLBG: Chile Peso Little Changed as Euro Counters Copper Increase
Chile’s peso swung between gains and losses versus the U.S. dollar as a fluctuating euro countered an increase in the price of copper, Chile’s main export.
The peso fell less than 0.1 percent to 473.10 per dollar at 9:46 a.m. New York time from 473.02 yesterday. The peso earlier rose as much as 0.1 percent.
“The peso is waiting for some sort of definition regarding the situation in Greece, which is putting some pressure on demand for emerging market assets,” Raul Lopez, head currency trader at Banco Penta, said today in a phone interview.
The euro rose as much as 0.5 percent, after earlier falling 0.4 percent, as the Greek Parliament prepares to vote on austerity measures needed to prevent a default on the country’s sovereign debt. It erased losses after the European Central bank’s President Jean-Claude Trichet said policy makers are on a “strong vigilance mode,” signaling they intend to raise interest rates next week.
Copper, which accounts for half of Chile’s exports, rose as much as 0.9 percent in New York on speculation that a fall in crude-oil prices will support growth and boost demand for industrial metals.
To contact the reporter on this story: Eduardo Thomson in Santiago at ethomson1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net