Weekly Mexico Market Monitor

September 22, 2023
3:44 pm

Weekly Mexico Market Monitor

Friday AM, September 22, 2023

MARKETS 

  The FTSE-BIVA index closed on September 21 at 1,071.51 up slightly from its September 14 close at 1,068.85.

The MXN/USD exchange rate closed at 17.23 pesos to the dollar on September 21 slightly weaker than its close of 17.11 pesos on September 14.

The Mexican 10-year bond (2031) closed on Thursday with a yield of 9.759%, slightly up from a yield of 9.604% on September 14.

The FTSE-BIVA Top Stock Gainers for the week were: REGIONAL (+4.27%), GRUMAB (+4.21%) and WALMEX (+3.51%) and the Biggest Losers were: VOLARIS (-11.61%), AXTEL (-7.69%) and TELEVISA (-4.97%).

CORPORATE & MARKET NEWS 

Bimbo opened a production line at its plant in Buenos Aires – a project in which it invested US $100 million. The plant now has the capacity to produce 15,000 loaves per hour.

Ferromex, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico Transporte, was forced to suspend some cargo railway services as undocumented migrants crowded the tracks.

Kapital, a CDMX-based fintech, announced this week that they are acquiring Banco Autofin Mexico, in a US$50 million transaction, subject to regulatory approval.

Mincer HD, a UK vehicle components manufacturer, is investing US $70 million to install two factories in Hidalgo. One of the plants will be used for casting drums and the other for machining parts for the automotive sector.

Unifin Financiera, the multipurpose financing company, is seeking to move forward following its filing for bankruptcy, seeking a 4.8-billion-peso loan to resume operations. Their plan comes after other specialized lenders Crédito Real and AlphaCredit failed to receive similar financing.

Pemex began trading with Vitol three years after deals were banned with the world’s largest energy trader following a graft scandal. Meanwhile, Mexico’s Hokchi Energy sought a dispute resolution against PE procedure seeking US $190 million in unpaid fees threatening future legal action.

Schneider Electric, the French digital automation and energy management company, will invest US $40 million in Nuevo Leon between 2023 and 2024. This will be used to expand infrastructure in places such as its Monterrey Development and Innovation Center.

POLITICS 

This week the race to become the Mayor of Mexico City heated up, as the mayor of Iztapalapa, Clara Brugada, was joined by Omar García Harfuch, who held the position of Secretary of Citizen Security of Mexico City under Sheinbaum, as aspiring Morena candidates. Also in the running are the Morena national president, Mario Delgado, as well as the undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell. Garcia Harfuch is the favorite.

In another scandal over academic integrity, Xóchitl Gálvez, the Frente por Amplio candidate for the presidency, was accused of plagiarism in her thesis produced while at UNAM.

TRADE & ECONOMICS 

Analysts and 33 banks and brokerage firms in Mexico raised their expectations for economic growth, according to Citibanamex’s most recent biweekly survey. The specialists’ consensus on the growth of the Mexican economy in 2023 rose from 3.1% to 3.2%, and for next year it advanced from 1.7% to 1.9%.

According to Inegi, retail revenues in Mexico in July grew by 0.2% and moderated their upward trend, although they remained at 15-year highs. Annually, retail sales revenues in the country increased by a strong 5.1%.

According to Inegi data, in the last five years, tequila manufacturing sales have been growing at an annual rate of 13% (on average): they went from US $39 billion in 2018 to almost US $69 billion in the last twelve months.