Mexican Peso down for third straight day on hotter US CPI data

• Mexican Peso remains on the defensive after Mexico’s Industrial Production figures disappointed investors.
• US inflation exceeds forecasts, impacting speculation of dovish US Federal Reserve.
• USD/MXN is volatile in the session as traders digest recent economic data released on both sides of the border.

The Mexican Peso (MXN) extended its losses for a third consecutive day against the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday following a hotter-than-expected inflation report in the United States. Bets that the US Federal would cut rates in March remained largely unchanged at around 61.4%, though the Mexican currency failed to gain traction in early trading on Thursday. The USD/MXN posts minuscule gains of 0.03% and trades at 16.97 after hitting a four-day high.

Mexico’s economic docket featured Industrial Production that missed the mark set by economists, a headwind for the Peso. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed that US inflation in December rose above the mark, which could prevent the Fed from easing policy. At the same time, unemployment claims for the last week were lower than expected, indicating the labor market is softening.

Daily digest market movers: Mexican Peso took a toll on weak Mexican data and strong US inflation

• Industrial Production in Mexico plunged -1.5% MoM in November, worse than the -0.2% estimated. The annual figure slumped -3.1%, its lowest reading since August.
• The December US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose b y 3.4% YoY, above forecasts and November’s 3.1%. Core CPI climbed 3.9% YoY, lower than the 4% achieved in the previous reading but higher than the 3.8% projected by the consensus.
• Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending January 6 rose by 202K, less the previous week's 203K and forecasts of 210K.
• Given the fact that Industrial Production plunged in Mexico, the scenario of the country is becoming uncertain, which could weigh on the Mexican Peso. Even though Gross Fixed Investment climbed, other key economic indicators like inflation edging up and an economic slowdown pose challenges that could prevent the economic growth foreseen by analysts.
• On Wednesday, the World Bank revised its economic projections for Mexico in 2024. The updated forecast anticipates that Mexico's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 2.6%, an increase from the bank’s initial prediction of 1.9%. Analysts at the bank attribute this expected growth to the rise in near-shoring activities, which they believe will positively impact the Mexican economy.
• Although the recent meeting minutes from Banxico (the Central Bank of Mexico) suggest that the central bank might contemplate easing its monetary policy, the inflation report for December could hinder any move toward policy relaxation.
• On Tuesday, Mexico's Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded a YoY increase of 4.66% in December, surpassing the expected 4.55%. This is a significant jump from November's figure of 4.32%.
• Core inflation figures, which exclude volatile items like food and energy, showed a YoY increase of 5.09%, which was slightly lower than the consensus and the previous month's figures of 5.15% and 5.30%, respectively.
• On January 5, a Reuters Poll suggested the Mexican Peso could weaken 5.4% to 18.00 per US Dollar in the 12 months following December.
• Last week’s Federal Reserve officials expressed that interest rates should remain at current levels. Fed’s Bostic emphasized that policy needs to stay tight, while Fed’s Bowman added that policy is sufficiently restrictive.
• The US economy continues to paint a mixed economic outlook as the latest US jobs data was mixed, while business activity in manufacturing contracted and the service sector deteriorated. Although a soft-landing scenario looms, the chance of a mild recession has increased, so caution is warranted.

Technical analysis: Mexican Peso trims some of its losses as USD/MXN slides below 17.00

The USD/MXN is bearishly biased even though it hit a new weekly high of 17.04, but the exchange rate has fallen below the 17.00 figure even though the Greenback continues to trade higher as shown by the US Dollar Index (DXY).

If buyers fail to lift the exotic pair above the 17.00 figure and achieve a daily close, that would pave the way for further losses. The first key support level would be the January 10 daily low of 16.92, followed by the latest cycle low of 16.78. Further downside is seen at last year’s low of 16.62.

Conversely, if buyers keep the USD/MXN exchange rate above 17.00, that could pave the way to test the 17.20 mark, followed by the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at 17.22, ahead of challenging the confluence of the 100 and 200-day SMAs at around 17.40.

USD/MXN Price Action – Daily Chart