The peso closed the session with a moderate depreciation of 0.27% or 5.3 cents, trading around 19.84 pesos per dollar, with the exchange rate touching a minimum of 19.7197 and a maximum of 19.8690 pesos.

The depreciation of the peso occurred alongside a weakening in oil prices, as the WTI closed with a 1.28% decline, trading at 65.42 dollars per barrel.

Likewise, the downward pressure on oil prices came amid progress in talks related to the Iran nuclear deal.

According to a Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov, significant progress has been made in efforts to negotiate an agreement between Iran and the United States and he reported that «an important announcement» is likely to be made on Wednesday.

Given this, Iran is preparing to return to the oil market and gradually increase its exports.

At the same time, OPEC and its allies (OPEC +) are increasing their supply to meet the rebound in global demand caused by the economic reopening.

In the foreign exchange market, only four currencies lost in the wide basket of main crosses, standing out the Peruvian sol with 0.64%, the Turkish lira with 0.53%, the Mexican peso and the Argentine peso with 0.03 percent.

The rest of the currencies in the basket closed higher, although the gains were moderate for the currencies of oil-producing countries such as the Canadian dollar (+ 0.08%) and the Russian ruble (+0.23 percent).

It should be noted that in the foreign exchange market the US dollar remained weak, losing 0.34% according to the weighted index and accumulating a 0.99% decline in the last four sessions.

The mexican peso

The weakness is due in part to the publication in the United States of more indicators that indicate downside risks to economic activity.

This morning the housing starts for April were published, showing a monthly contraction of 9.5%, considerably higher than the expected contraction of 2.0 percent.

Likewise, construction permits grew 0.3% monthly, below the 0.6% expected.

Tomorrow, the publication of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy minutes will be relevant at 1:00 p.m.

In the session, the euro touched a minimum of 1.2151 and a maximum of 1.2234 dollars per euro. For its part, the euro peso touched a minimum of 24.0279 and a maximum of 24.2914 pesos per euro.

At the close, the interbank quotes for sale stood at 19.8409 pesos per dollar, 1.4186 dollars per pound and 1.2223 dollars per euro.

Gabriela Siller; PhD

Director of Economic-Financial Analysis.

Banco BASE