The peso falls slightly against the dollar in a cautious market with attention on the Fed

He Mexican peso closed the first day of the week with a slight fall against the American dollar. The local currency fell marginally, with investors taking positions in dollars to cover risks before statements by Federal Reserve (Fed) officials and after data in the United States that reinforced the expectation of a new rate increase by the central bank .

Demand for dollars rose after the April survey of factory activity in New York rose for the first time in five months.

He exchange rate ended the day at the level of 18.0282 units per dollar, against a record of 18.0260 units last Friday, with official data from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico). This meant a marginal decline of 0.01 percent for the local currency.

“The Mexican currency was affected by the growing expectation that the Fed will increase its reference interest rate in May, after some viewers were betting that, with the movement in March, the bullish cycle would have ended,” Monex said. Financial group.

Earlier, the peso strengthened to 17.9190 units, a level not seen since March 9, according to Reuters data.

Traders believe there is almost a 90% chance the Fed will raise the benchmark cost of money again by 25 basis points at its meeting on May 2-3, after retail sales figures were revised up in United States and consumer inflation expectations to rise on Friday.

He Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback against six reference currencies, rose 0.55% to 101.8 points.

The attention of the participants was also placed on the opinions that US central bank officials will express at different events in the coming days, in search of clues about the end of their cycle of monetary tightening.

(With information from Reuters.)