AMLO Victory Triggers Record Jump in Mexico Consumer Confidence

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico's consumer confidence index soared to the highest in more than a decade after leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won a landslide victory in the country's presidential election.

The index leaped to 105 in July from 89.8 the month before, the statistics agency said Friday, way above the 90.4 median forecast of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. It was the biggest one-month increase since at least 2001.

"Consumers have definitely given a positive vote to the electoral results," said Joan Enric Domene, analyst at Invex Casa de Bolsa SA de CV. "People haven't seen a substantial improvement in their quality of life yet, but they are happy with the outcome.”

Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, won the July 1 election with 53 percent of the votes and takes office Dec. 1. As he tones down his anti-business rhetoric and optimism mounts that Mexico will reach a new trade deal with the U.S. and Canada, the peso has appreciated 6.3 percent against the dollar. Still, private industry is waiting to see how AMLO's agenda will affect the budget and investor conditions, Domene said.

"There are loose ends that the private sector is waiting to see tied up by this new government," said Domene. "Surely, in the next few months, investment from the private sector will be more reticent than consumer spending.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniela Guzman in New York at dguzman26@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Philip Sanders at psanders@bloomberg.net, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez

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