Chile's peso closes at 9-month high against dollar

Reuters | December 04 2004

SANTIAGO, Chile, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Chile's peso currency (CLP=: Quote, Profile, Research) (CHILJ: Quote, Profile, Research) gained 1.23 percent on Friday, to close at its strongest level in more than nine months, shadowing the euro and other currencies that strengthened against the greenback.

The peso closed at 579.50/580.00 per dollar, a level not seen since Feb. 19, compared with Thursday's close of 586.00/586.50 per dollar.

"After the (soft) U.S. jobs data the dollar began a big fall in international markets, especially against the euro, which gave a big push to the peso," said a trader, who asked not to be named.

A surprisingly soft 112,000 new U.S. jobs were created in November, the Labor Department said on Friday.

The Chilean peso, which hit a year low against the dollar at 646.50 on June 11, began its latest swing upwards on Oct. 27, with the currency strengthening 4 percent against the greenback since then.

Lending a firm tone to the peso have been increasingly strong export figures, particularly that of copper, Chile's biggest export.

Copper export income in Chile, the world's top producer, nearly doubled on higher production and prices. In the first 10 months of this year, it totaled $11.658 billion compared with $6.158 billion in the same period a year earlier, central bank data showed on Nov. 15.

The copper boom has put the South American nation on track to post a record trade surplus this year of $9.1 billion, the central bank estimates.

.