The peso tumbled Thursday during its worst trading day in 11 months.
Investors shifted their attention from NAFTA to the upcoming presidential elections, analysts said. And they didn’t like what they saw.
The currency fell as much as 2.1 percent to 18.45 per dollar after a week of small gains.
The move is the biggest one-day drop for the peso since last May and comes as a new poll showed leftist populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador — or AMLO — is consolidating his lead in the race to become Mexico’s next president.
A Reforma poll puts the former Mexico City mayor firmly as the candidate of choice, with 48 percent of respondents backing him. That gives Lopez Obrador a 22-point lead over his nearest rival, PAN’s Ricardo Anaya, the head of a right-left alliance, whose support fell from 32 to 26 percent.
José Antonio Meade, who is heading a coalition led by the ruling PRI, continues to languish in third place with only 18 percent.
Despite its slide, the peso remains this year’s top performing major currency, up 6.6 percent.
Source: Financial Times
