* Argentine stocks hit record high, peso rises 1.7%
* Brazil's real up almost 1%
* Chile cenbank minutes on Wednesday eyed
By Susan Mathew
Sept 13 (Reuters) - Argentine stocks jumped 10% to hit an
all-time high and bonds rallied on Monday after primary
elections indicated the conservative opposition might win
mid-terms in November, heralding possibly market-friendly policy
changes as the economy struggles.
The country's benchmark 2035 dollar-denominated
sovereign bond rose up as much three points, traders said.
Broad-based gains on benchmark Merval stocks index was
led by an 18% jump in power producer Central Puerto.
The Argentine peso jumped 1.7% to 182 per dollar,
traders said, while a risk index for the country dropped
sharply.
The opposition led by around 5 percentage points in the key
province of Buenos Aires, with some 84% of votes tallied in the
populous region that has been a bastion of support for the
Peronist government under President Alberto Fernandez.
The results suggest a shift to the right in voters'
preferences, and "the market is likely take a net positive
view... for they increase the probability of regime change in
2023 and more effective checks and balances until then," said
Goldman Sachs strategists.
But, in the mean-time, they warned of risks of a slight
shift to more interventionist and populist policies by
Frenandez's administration to rebuild political support.
The Argentine economy has struggled with runaway inflation
and debt restructuring, and the current government has been
dragging it feet on an International Monetary Fund programme.
Most other Latam currencies firmed against the dollar, with
Brazil's real rising 0.9% as political tension seemed to
ebb for now. A protest by Brazilian truckers loyal to President
Jair Bolsonaro had largely fizzled out on Friday, a relief for
industries that feared supply shortages.
Surging inflation has also raised the prospect for another
interest rate hike in Brazil at a central bank meeting next
week.
Stocks in Sao Paulo rallied, with gains being
broad-based. Power utility Eletrobras rose 2.2% after
a state-run company was created to control assets that cannot be
sold in its privatization.
Chile's peso lifted further off three-week lows with
eyes on minutes of the previous central bank meeting due to be
published on Wednesday.
Mexico's peso rose for the 11th session in 12, while
COlombia's peso fell slightly.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1417 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily %
change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1300.33 -0.66
MSCI LatAm 2421.90 1.05
Brazil Bovespa 115967.26 1.47
Mexico IPC 51824.99 0.59
Chile IPSA 4427.07 -0.83
Argentina MerVal - -
Colombia COLCAP 1325.72 0.39
Currencies Latest Daily %
change
Brazil real 5.2201 0.88
Mexico peso 19.8680 0.07
Chile peso 784.1 0.43
Colombia peso 3836.03 -0.09
Peru sol 4.0991 -0.21
Argentina peso 182 1.65
(interbank)
(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru;
Editing by Alistair Bell)