MEXICO CITY, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Mexican stocks ended
slightly lower on Tuesday as investors adopted a wait-and-see
approach to any economic announcements in U.S. President Barack
Obama’s State of the Union address later in the day.

Brazil’s stock market, the region’s biggest trading hub, was
closed through Wednesday for carnival.

MEXICO CITY, Feb 4 (Reuters) – The Mexican government said
on Monday that a gas leak caused a blast that killed at least 37
people at the offices of state oil monopoly Pemex in Mexico
City, raising fresh questions about the firm’s safety record.

Attorney General Jesus Murillo said no trace of explosives
was found at the site of the explosion, the latest in a string
of disasters to hit the lumbering oil giant.

MEXICO CITY, March 21 (Reuters) – Mexican shares gained
sharply on Wednesday, hitting a 14-month high, as investors
shrugged off lackluster U.S. economic data and pushed the index
past key resistance levels.

The benchmark IPC stock index advanced 1 percent to
38,434.51 points. Driving gains, telecommunications giant
America Movil, which accounts for more than 20 percent
of the index’s weight, advanced 1.12 percent after last week
falling to five-month lows.

MEXICO CITY, March 13 (Reuters) – Latin American
stocks surged on Tuesday as equities in Brazil jumped to an
11-month high, helped by signs of strength in the U.S. economy,
but the region’s indexes may struggle to climb higher after a
big rally this year.

The MSCI Latin American stock index soared
3.04 percent as Brazil’s benchmark index jumped by the most in
over four months.

MEXICO CITY/SAO PAULO, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Latin
American stocks edged up on Friday, but investors showed caution
ahead of a key meeting to approve Greece’s next bailout on
Monday, while analysts warned stocks looked expensive.

The MSCI Latin American stock index
added 1 percent, clocking an about 2 percent gain for the week
as Mexico neared a record high and Brazil clung to a nearly
10-month high.

CUETZALAN, Mexico (Reuters) – For generations, indigenous coffee farmers in the lush mountains east of Mexico’s capital sold their beans to middlemen without understanding the workings of the international coffee market.

Now some of those same farmers, tired of falling victim to wild price swings, have taken the unique step of learning the complexities of derivatives trading to hedge their risk.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – While most travelers flock to Mexico to sip margaritas on white-sand beaches, a hardy few choose lesser-known tourist sites where they are chased down by immigration agents or risk their lives in dangerous slums.

Escalating violence in Mexico’s war on drugs may be prompting some would-be tourists to think twice about Mexico, but agencies offering alternative tourism are thriving among those seeking not just a break, but a break from the ordinary.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – While most travelers flock to Mexico to sip margaritas on white-sand beaches, a hardy few choose lesser-known tourist sites where they are chased down by immigration agents or risk their lives in dangerous slums.

Escalating violence in Mexico’s war on drugs may be prompting some would-be tourists to think twice about Mexico, but agencies offering alternative tourism are thriving among those seeking not just a break, but a break from the ordinary.

MEXICO CITY, May 19 (Reuters) – Mexican economic growth
slowed sharply in the first three months of the year as
factories downshifted on a weaker outlook for exports to the
United States, data showed on Thursday. The slowdown was widely anticipated and economists don't think it will derail growth of 4 percent or higher for the entire year. But it could help central bankers keep the country's benchmark interest rate low at 4.5 percent to support the economy. Gross domestic product grew 0.5 percent from the previous quarter, the national statistics agency said, less than half the fourth-quarter rate. The growth rate during the fourth quarter was revised lower to 1.1 percent MXGDPQ=ECI. "This is a signal that the central bank should be in no hurry to raise interest rates," Santander economist Rafael Camarena said. Mexico is limping back from a deep economic downturn even as regional peers like Brazil and Chile roar ahead. The central bank said this month the economy could grow as much as 5 percent this year, although a summary of its most recent policy review showed policymakers divided about how much the recovery will fuel inflation. [ID:nN11238885] [ID:nN29258388] "This casts doubt on the possibility of growing 5 percent this year," said Barclays Capital analyst Jimena Zuniga in New York. "People could pare back some of the more optimistic expectations on the economy." Investors are betting the central bank will raise interest rates in December BOMWATCH. Yields on 9-month interest-rate swaps MXNIRS9M=RR were unchanged from before the data's release, suggesting investors had not altered their bets on the direction of policy. The data showed the economy expanding 4.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier MXGDPY=ECI. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected an increase of 0.5 percent from the previous quarter and 4.95 percent from a year earlier. Unemployment remains above pre-recession levels, keeping consumers and the service sector weak, and credit is just starting to expand. The service sector expanded 0.9 percent in the first quarter -- a slowdown from the 1.2 percent rate clocked in the fourth quarter. EXPORTERS PINCHED That has left Mexico dependent on demand from the United States, whose economic outlook has grown darker in recent months as higher gasoline prices hurt consumers. Mexican industrial output fell in two of three months during the quarter. Economists at BBVA Bancomer said the slowdown was much more notable in export-oriented industries such as electronics. Mexico sends about 80 percent of its exports to the United States, where growth also slowed sharply during the first quarter. [ID:nCAT005418] Some Mexican companies are feeling the pinch. Grupo Simec (SIMECB.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which makes steel products used in appliances and cars, said this month its first-quarter profits fell 9 percent from a year earlier on lower sales volumes and high prices for raw materials. At the same time, economists remain upbeat about growth prospects this year. Mexican factories are competing better against rivals in China where workers are demanding bigger pay hikes. About six in 10 executives see Mexico as the best place to build a factory that would sell goods to the United States, according to a poll released last month by consultancy AlixPartners. However, the poll also highlighted one of the Mexican economy's chief risks: violence between drug cartels that threatens a collapse of law and order along its northern border. One in five executives said their operations have been disrupted by security issues. (Addtional reporting by Michael O'Boyle and Noe Torres, Editing by W Simon and Jan Paschal)

LA PATRONA, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexican drug gangs branching out into new criminal activity are earning a steady stream of cash from the mass kidnapping of migrants, making the already arduous journey to the United States even more lethal.

The trek across Mexico has long been dangerous for the hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants, mostly Central Americans, who try their luck each year, risking robbery, death from fast-moving freight trains or dehydration in the desert.