EMERGING MARKETS-Latam assets kick off week higher with focus on central bank verdicts

By Pranav Kashyap and Nikhil Sharma

April 28 (Reuters) - Indexes tracking Latin American assets rose on Monday, with a whiff of caution as investors awaited further developments on the U.S.-China trade policy front, while the region braced for a slew of central bank meetings this week.

Index tracking Latin American currencies .MILA00000CUS ticked up 0.3%, after it eked out a modest gain for the previous week on Friday.

Though U.S. President Donald Trump has asserted that trade talks with China were underway, his claims have been rebuffed by Beijing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent failed on Sunday to back Trump's assertion.

The Mexican peso MXN= slipped 0.2% against the U.S. dollar, hurt by lower oil prices, while its stock index .MXX rose 0.7%.

A Reuters poll showed that Mexico's economy will barely grow this year owing to the U.S. tariff shock, after inching closer to a technical recession last quarter.

The country's GDP figures for the first quarter are set to be released later this week.

"The Mexican economy has avoided a technical recession, but it is not out of the woods yet," said Andres Abadia, chief LatAm economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"The biggest downside that the Mexican economy will continue to have will be weakening CapEx because some companies would prefer to move to the sidelines in terms of investment until we know more about the tariff policy from the U.S."

In Colombia, the benchmark stock index .COLCAP started the week by dropping 1.4% after the International Monetary Fund on Saturday placed conditions on its continued eligibility for its flexible credit line.

The country's central bank is widely expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Wednesday as it grapples with global trade uncertainties and weak public finances. The peso COP= was flat against the dollar.

Chile's central bank's rate decision is also scheduled for Wednesday. Its local peso CLP= fell 0.8%, the worst performing currency for the day.

In Brazil, the real BRL= appreciated by 0.7%, and the local stock market .BVSP edged up 0.2%. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad expressed optimism about the momentum building for the long-awaited ratification of the Mercosur-European Union trade agreement.

The BRICS group of developing nations, which counts Brazil as a member, met on Monday and is expected to produce a joint statement criticizing "unilateral measures" on trade by the U.S.

MSCI's gauge for Latin American equities .MILA00000PUS climbed 0.6%, following its strongest weekly performance in over two years on Friday.

The stock index has gained 19% this year and the broader currency index is up 11.8% for 2025 so far.

Relatively lower U.S. import tariffs on South American countries have partly protected Latin American assets from extreme selling pressures, unlike their international peers.

Elsewhere, Pakistan bonds US695847AU73=TE, XS2322321964=TE lost more than 4 cents each as war-like tensions with its neighbor, India, continued to escalate after Delhi said it had responded to "unprovoked" small arms firing from Islamabad.

Among individual stocks, Mexican cement maker Cemex CEMEXCPO.MX climbed 4% after its first-quarter net profit nearly tripled due to the sale of assets in the Dominican Republic.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: