Mexico Trading Declines in Third Quarter

Volumes of Mexican debt securities, Latin America’s most frequently traded instruments, fell in the third quarter to $339bn, according to EMTA. This represents a 16% decline from $403bn in the same period last year and a 9% drop from $373bn in the second quarter. Brazil finished second with $314bn, equal to last year’s Q3 total and up 4% from Q2. Argentina came in third, at $146bn. Mexico’s market share dropped to 20%, just above Brazil’s 19%. Globally, trading in emerging market debt reached $1.68trn in Q3, down 4% from $1.75trn in Q2. Given the turbulence in the markets, the fourth quarter is expected to be even softer. “It should be a pretty quiet fourth quarter close” for LatAm bonds, Siobhan Morden, local markets strategist at ABN AMRO, tells LatinFinance.