The index was still on track to lose close to 6% through a chaotic week as mounting worries of a global recession sparked in part by the long-drawn US-China trade war, kept investors on the edge. The Argentine peso rose 1.8%, attempted a mild rebound from a near-twenty percent fall this week which came on the back of a surprise defeat for sitting President Mauricio Macri in the presidential primaries on Sunday. To lift battered market sentiment, Macri announced an end to sales taxes on basic food products until the end of the year, while central bank barred private banks from having total dollar holdings exceeding 5 percent from Aug 20 onwards.
Mexico's peso was marginally higher a day after the central bank cut its key lending rate for the first time in five years citing slowing inflation and increasing slack in the economy. Chile's peso rose only marginally, while stocks gained 0.5%.
"If you were to look at the pure nuts and bolts of the Mexican economy, which is low growth and inflation has come down significantly, the rate cut is long overdue," said David Rees, emerging market strategist at J. Safra Sarasin Asset Management. "That central bank is still cautious though and as there is a lot going on in the background. So we have to see if the Fed cuts rate in September and then probably Mexico will follow."