Mexican peso jumps on report US, Mexico reach preliminary NAFTA deal

Mexican
Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, left, and White House Senior
Adviser Jared Kurchner walk on a lunch break from their
negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement,
Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Washington, near the White
House.
AP Photo/Luis Alonso
Lugo

• The Mexican
  peso was up as much as 1% against the US dollar
  Monday.
• The US and Mexico reportedly reached a preliminary
  NAFTA deal.
• Watch the Mexican
  peso trade in real time here.

The Mexican
peso jumped Monday after the US and Mexico reportedly reached
a breakthrough on NAFTA, clearing the way for to an end to
sluggish trade negotiations among the two countries and Canada
that have dragged on for more than a year.

The peso was up as much as 1% against the dollar after US and
Mexican trade negotiators reached an agreement to rewrite key
parts of the deal, according
to the New York Times, which could be announced as soon
as Monday. 

Still, negotiations on at least one “major” issue are still
pending, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told
reporters,
according to Reuters.

The two countries earlier this month entered a round of bilateral
negotiations for modernizing the decades-old trade deal, which
President Donald Trump has threatened to pull out of. Sticking
points that have stalled those talks include rules on automobile
manufacturing and energy.

“Positive NAFTA headlines would reinforce short-run downside in
CADMXN,” Mark McCormick, head of North American FX strategy
at TD Securities, wrote in an email. 

The peso was up nearly 5% versus the dollar this year. 

Markets Insider