* Real edges up after six-day losing streak
* Strong dollar keeps EM currencies subdued
* Mexico, Colombia stocks hit by commodity prices
March 30 (Reuters) - Brazil's real stabilized on Tuesday
after six straight days of losses against the dollar, as
investors reacted to President Jair Bolsonaro's major
ministerial reshuffle amid criticism over his government's
handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The real edged up to trade at 5.764 per dollar,
remaining near the three-week low of 5.806 per dollar hit on
Monday.
Regional peers including the Mexican peso and
Colombian peso were trading marginally lower as oil
prices slipped and the prospect of a stronger U.S. economic
recovery lifted the dollar.
Bolsonaro made a series of changes to his cabinet on Monday,
with three ministers leaving the far-right leader's government.
The departures included Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo, a China
hawk who faced mounting criticism over his failure to guarantee
additional COVID-19 vaccine supplies for Latin America's largest
economy.
Brazil is experiencing its worst phase of the pandemic, with
deaths topping 3,000 a day as a contagious new variant rages
through the country.
That, along with a slow vaccination program, has put the
Brazilian currency on track for nearly a 10% decline this
quarter, making it among the worst performing emerging market
currencies in the past three months.
The real got an additional boost on Tuesday after data
showed Brazil's economy added a net 401,639 formal jobs in
February, the highest monthly figure in at least 20 years.
The Bovepsa stock index rose 0.6%, with
travel-related stocks among the top gainers. Tourism operator
CVC Brasil and airlines Gol and Azul
each jumped about 6%.
Stock markets in Mexico, Colombia and Chile
were trading lower, hurt by a drop in commodity
prices.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Latest Daily %
change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1316.44 0.48
MSCI LatAm 2260.41 0.67
Brazil Bovespa 116187.96 0.67
Mexico IPC 47624.21 -0.26
Chile IPSA 4890.33 -0.54
Argentina MerVal - -
Colombia COLCAP 1316.18 -0.35 Currencies Latest Daily %
change
Brazil real 5.7640 0.03
Mexico peso 20.6530 -0.22
Chile peso 731.4 0.27
Colombia peso 3734.15 -0.48
Peru sol 3.7518 -0.05
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru
Editing by Paul Simao)
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