EMERGING MARKETS-Latam stocks, currencies turn higher with focus on tariff developments

By Shashwat Chauhan and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

March 25 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies rose against a softer dollar and stocks gained ground on Tuesday, as markets continued to hope for some relief from escalations in U.S. tariff policy.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday automobile tariffs were coming soon even as he indicated that not all of his threatened levies would be imposed on April 2 and that some countries may get breaks.

Brazil's real BRL= jumped 1.1%, set for its first daily gain in four. An index of Latin American currencies .MILA00000CUS rose 0.4%, set for its best session in over one week.

MSCI's gauge of regional stocks .MILA00000PUS rose 0.8%.

"The fact that we've only seen partial tariffs on the Europeans, Canadians and Mexicans has meant that most of the tariffs so far have been on China ... that has stabilized some emerging market sentiment," said Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights.

Elsewhere, the United States reached deals with Ukraine and Russia to pause attacks at sea and against energy targets.

Prices of Ukraine's sovereign dollar bonds rose, with the 2029 XS2895055981=TE and 2036 XS2895056526=TE maturities up over one cent each to trade respectively at 67.9 and 54.7 cents on the dollar.

Washington also agreed to push for a lifting of some sanctions against Moscow.

"The ceasefire process continues to move forward ...but it is a pretty tense situation and there's a lot of scope for stopping and starting of negotiations and potential delays," Zimeba said.

The news of a truce added to some broader optimism, though most focus remained on U.S. trade policy as uncertainty over the scope and impact of tariffs continues to cloud the outlook for global economic growth.

Minutes from the Brazilian central bank's last policy meeting - where it hiked rates by 100 bps - showed that given heightened uncertainty, it chose to signal the direction of only its next move.

Mexico's peso MXN= slipped 0.2% after rising nearly 1% on Monday. The Bank of Mexico is expected to cut its main lending rate by 50-basis-points at its meeting later this week.

Most Latin American currencies and stock indexes have gained ground in 2025, as the case for U.S. exceptionalism weakened amid tariff uncertainty, while fears of an impending economic slowdown also spurred some dollar weakness.

The Latin American stocks index .MILA00000PUS is up nearly 15% year-to-date.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte called for general elections in April 2026. Peru's sol PEN=PE gained 0.3%.

Argentina's Merval index <.MERV> advanced 2.2%.

Brazil's main index .BVSP jumped 0.6%. Truck rental company Vamos VAMO3.SA was the top gainer, up about 15%, after posting stronger consolidated net profit of 213.2 million reais ($372.54 million) in the fourth quarter.

HIGHLIGHTS

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Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: