This week, China took some big steps to try to juice its economy. Federated Hermes Head of International Equity Group Martin Schulz warns investors to be careful given there have been several "false starts." He notes that some Chinese stocks are "very cheap," but that the country "still has a lot of issues to overcome. The property market is still in the doldrums. You have yet to see some of this fiscal pump-priming that we believe is necessary to get the economy on better footing." Schulz says his firm has been adding China exposure over the last few months, but not "in large scale." Schulz is more optimistic about Japan, with Federated Hermes having an Overweight exposure. He cites the yen's (JPY=X) performance and the Bank of Japan's rate hikes as just two reasons why he likes the opportunities there. Another market Schulz is watching is Brazil. "Brazil was at the forefront of more conventional monetary policy. They basically started to raise rates early in the cycle when they saw the first, if you will, inflationary pressures," Schulz says. He thinks there are political and legislative headwinds, but that Brazil has "a lot of potential." For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination Overtime. This post was written by Stephanie Mikulich.
* Chile's peso at four month highs * Rising iron ore prices push Brazil's real higher * Latam FX up 0.1%, stocks down 0.1% By Shashwat Chauhan May 16 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies slipped on Thursday, as a resurgent dollar ticked up following last sessions' declines, though the Brazilian real bucked the trend amid rising iron ore prices. Brazil's real appreciated 0.2% against the dollar, as iron ore prices, one of the country's top exports, gained on news of authorities in top consumer China considering government purchases of unsold homes. Separately, data showed inflation in Brazil as measured by the IGP-10 price index rose 1.08% in May, compared to a 0.33% drop in April.
MSCI's gauge for Latin American stocks inched up 0.2%, while the currencies index dipped 0.1% against the dollar, ending a three-day winning streak, by 1931 GMT. As the largest economy in the region, Brazil will be the focus on Wednesday, as its central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points.