Mexican Peso Closes Steady After Hitting Seven-Month High Against the Dollar

Traders are bracing for Thursday’s monetary policy announcement from the Bank of Mexico, where a 50-basis-point interest rate cut is widely expected. The Mexican peso ended Wednesday’s session virtually unchanged against the U.S. dollar. The local currency held steady after briefly touching its strongest level in seven months, ahead of the highly anticipated policy decision from Banxico. The exchange rate closed at 19.3892 pesos per dollar, a slight gain from Tuesday’s 19.3926, according to official data from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico). This represented a marginal appreciation of 0.02%—less than one cent. During the session, the dollar traded in a range between a high of 19.4250 and a low of 19.3032 pesos. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.14% at 101.12. The dollar recovered some ground after posting its biggest overnight drop in more than three weeks. That decline followed U.S. inflation data coming in below expectations, fueling bets on interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The peso had briefly appreciated past the 19.30 threshold, marking its strongest level since October. While a mild rebound in the dollar and key technical levels halted the advance, the peso is expected to remain range-bound ahead of Banxico’s decision. Analysts project an overnight range between 19.33 and 19.46, with market participants eyeing a packed economic calendar tomorrow. Mexican equities closed higher midweek, extending their winning streak to three sessions. After a volatile day of trading, local indices posted gains, led by shares of Grupo Televisa. The benchmark S&P/BMV IPC index, which tracks the most traded stocks on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV), rose 0.50% to 57,644.94 points. Meanwhile, the FTSE BIVA index, from the Institutional Stock Exchange (Biva), climbed 0.38% to 1,163.56 units.