SAO PAULO: Mexico’s and Brazil’s currencies closed stronger on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump unexpectedly fired FBI director James Comey, fuelling expectations of delays in the implementation of the government’s economic agenda.

Trump has pledged to spend heavily on infrastructure and cut taxes, fostering bets on additional inflationary pressures that could force the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates faster than expected. The currencies of Brazil and Mexico gained by more than 0.5 percent, boosted by higher oil prices that helped lift the shares of Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.

Brazil’s Bovespa stock index rose 1.62 percent on Wednesday to a more than two-month high as markets were optimistic about pension reform passing Congress.—Reuters