MEXICAN PESO SURGES AS POWELL SIGNALS RATE PEAK, US DATA SOFTENS

• Mexican Peso soars to seven-week high courtesy of a weak US Dollar.
• Mexico's Consumer Confidence falters, yet Automotive Production and Exports see a rise, reflecting a mixed economic landscape.
• Jerome Powell's Senate testimony hints at no imminent rate cuts.
• US political landscape heats up post-Super Tuesday, with Trump and Biden leading their respective party delegate counts.

The Mexican Peso rallied against the US Dollar during the North American session on Wednesday as US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell testified before the US Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill. That and soft jobs data from the United States (US) pressured the Greenback and US Treasury yields. Therefore, the USD/MXN exchanges hands at 16.85, plunging 0.91%.

Mexico’s economic docket revealed that Consumer Confidence dipped in seasonal and non-seasonal figures, according to the National Statistics Agency (INEGI). In other data, INEGI revealed that Automotive Production and Exports increased in February from a year earlier.

Across the border, the US Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies before the US Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill. In prepared remarks, he said that interest rates had peaked, that it’s not appropriate to reduce rates soon, and that he has confidence that inflation is moving toward the Fed’s 2% goal.

During the Q&A session, Fed Chair Powell said that rate cuts will depend on data, and that it’s more important to get monetary policy right than to cut rates quickly. He commented that inflation is easing and that there’s no reason to think the economy is in or faces a near-term risk of recession.

Aside from this, the political race is almost defined in the United States after Super Tuesday. Former President Donald Trump leads the Republicans with 995 delegates, shy of the 1,215 needed. On the Democratic side, US President Joe Biden leads with 1,497 delegates, short of the 1,968 needed.