Brazil, Chile, Peru: Latin America Bond, Currency Preview

By Jamie McGee

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic reports may influence trading in Latin American local bonds and currencies today. Bond yields and exchange rates are from a previous session.

Brazil: Retail sales increased by 9.9 percent in May, compared to 8.7 percent growth in April, according to the median estimate of 25 economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The government is scheduled to release the data at 8 a.m. New York time.

The real rose 0.4 percent to 1.5948 per dollar.

The yield on the country's zero-coupon bonds due January 2010 rose 3 basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 15.13 percent, according to Bloomberg pricing.

Chile: The central bank can't afford to risk losing credibility by not acting against inflation, bank President Jose De Gregorio told lawmakers in Santiago.

``The loss of credibility, which happens when the right decisions are not taken at the right time, only leads to higher costs for controlling inflation,'' De Gregorio said before the Chamber of Deputies economics committee in Santiago. ``Containing inflation isn't free, but postponing that containment is even more expensive.''

The peso rose 1.07 percent to 496.71 per dollar.

The yield for a basket of five year peso bonds in inflation-linked currency units, called the unidades de fomento, rose 5 basis points or 0.05 percentage point, to 2.95 according to the Bloomberg composite prices.

Peru: The economy expanded by 8 percent for the year ending in May, compared to 13.3 percent growth in the 12 months through April, according to the median estimate of 9 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The central bank is slated to release the data at 11:30 a.m. New York time.

The sol rose 0.32 percent to 2.8235 per U.S. dollar.

The yield on the nation's 8.6 percent sol-denominated bonds due in August 2017 was unchanged at 7.63 percent according to Citigroup Inc.'s unit in Peru.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jamie McGee in New York at jmcgee8@bloomberg.net