EMERGING MARKETS-LatAm assets set for fourth month of gains on Fed-cut hopes, investors parse data

By Twesha Dikshit

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Latin American assets edged higher on Friday and were set for a fourth month of gains, with investors parsing through data sets and regional developments, while the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and outage of exchange operator CME Group muted activity.

The MSCI index tracking regional stocks .MILA00000PUS drifted 0.6% higher, while the currencies index .MILA00000CUS added 0.3%. Both were on track for weekly gains.

Emerging markets have rebounded from last week's sharp sell-off triggered by concerns over highly priced technology shares and shifting expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy path.

"It's been a good year for Latam FX on the back of carry demand for the region’s high yielders and the boom in metals," said ING analysts in a note.

"Political risk from elections in Brazil and Chile will be present, and US-Mexico trading relations are far from settled. Still, we see the region's currencies staying supported."

U.S. markets reopened for a shorter trading session following Thursday's closure on account of the Thanksgiving holiday but trading volumes remained lighter than usual.

An outage at the world's biggest exchange operator CME affected futures spanning foreign exchange, commodities, Treasuries and stocks, before resuming most operations.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS, REGIONAL UPDATES IN FOCUS

In Brazil, benchmark index Bovespa .BVSP hit an intraday high while the real BRL= strengthened 0.5% against the greenback. The jobless rate hit an all-time low in the three months through October coming in below market expectations despite high interest rates, according to data from statistics agency IBGE.

Brazil's policy rate currently stands at 15%, its highest level since the mid-2000s, however expectations of an interest rate easing cycle gained momentum after Wednesday's inflation data showed the print within the Central Bank's range.

Shares of miner Vale VALE3.SA added 1.4% after the company announced a payment of about 3.58 reais ($0.67) per share in dividends and interest on equity to shareholders.

Colombian equities .COLCAP gained 0.2% while the peso COP= was 0.4% firmer against the dollar. The country's independent fiscal rule committee lowered its 2025 fiscal deficit projection to 6.2% of GDP, below the target of 7.1%.

Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.6% in October, the national statistics agency said on Friday. Equities .MXX fell/rose while the peso MXN= firmed/lost ground against the dollar.

Argentina's MerVal index .MERV led gains, up 0.5% while the peso ARS= traded flat.

Elsewhere in emerging markets, India's economic growth accelerated to 8.2% year-on-year for the July to September period boosted by strong consumer spending ahead of punitive U.S. tariffs and local festivals.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1458 GMT: