Investors in Latin America backed wrong horse

The two biggest financial markets in Latin America swapped their long-held roles in 2012, with Mexico surging ahead and Brazil lagging, catching many US fund investors in the region off guard.

Stocks in Brazil, which had benefited over the past decade from a fast-growing consumer class and Chinese buying of commodities, suffered as the government increased regulation of key sectors of the economy and Asian demand waned.

In the third quarter of 2012, Brazil's economy grew only 0.9 percent from a year earlier, while Mexican growth was 3.3 percent.


Source: Reuters