EMERGING MARKETS-Latam FX edge higher for fifth day; Peruvian sol jumps

        *
      Board of Brazil's Petrobras approves Prates as next CEO


        *
      Peruvian sol hits near 1-year high


        *
      Chilean peso edges up ahead of rate decision


        *
      Latam currencies up 0.1%, stocks up 0.3%



 (Updates prices; adds comment)
    By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Amruta Khandekar
       Jan 26 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies rose for a
fifth straight session on Thursday, boosted by gains in the
Peruvian sol while Chile's peso edged higher ahead of an
interest rate decision by the country's central bank.
    The MSCI index for Latin American currencies
rose 0.1%. The Peruvian sol jumped 1.6% against the
greenback and was set for its biggest one-day percentage gain in
nearly one year.
    "The spike in sol is temporary and that's only because some
of the level of violence that we've seen in Peru has started to
subside some. But there is a lot of instability," said Juan
Perez, director of trading at Monex.
    The sol is down 1.2% so far in 2023, after violent protests
after the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo last month
shook the Andean nation.
        Chile's peso rose 0.1% ahead of the central
bank's monetary policy decision, with the bank expected to
    keep the benchmark interest rate
     at 11.25%.

    The Brazilian real rose 0.3%. Brazil's
outstanding public debt is expected to increase this year to
between 6.4 trillion reais and 6.8 trillion reais, from last
year's 5.951 trillion reais ($1.2 trillion), the Treasury said
on Thursday.
        Latam stocks were up 0.3%,
underperforming broader emerging market (EM) stocks,
which rose 1.1% to hit an over seven-month high.

    Brazil's Bovespa index fell 0.1% as gains in the
materials sector were offset by a 2.8% fall in state-run oil
company Petrobras after its board of directors
approved President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's pick, Jean Paul
Prates, as the firm's next chief executive.
    Americanas SA rose 8.5%, extending sharp gains
after the Brazilian retailer filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in
the United States on Wednesday.
    On a positive note, foreign direct investment in Brazil
almost doubled in 2022 from the year before to its highest level
in 10 years, central bank data showed.
    Elsewhere in emerging markets, the South African rand
slid 0.5% after the country's central bank raised its main
lending rate by 25 basis points, smaller than the 50-basis-point
increase expected by the majority of economists polled by
Reuters.
    The Pakistani rupee fell 9.6% against the dollar, central
bank data showed, its biggest one-day drop in over two decades -
in a slump that may persuade the International Monetary Fund to
resume lending to the country.
    While EM currencies have benefited from a rebound in risk
appetite, most are still likely to depreciate in relation to the
dollar this year, economists at Capital Economics wrote in a
note.
        "After all, while the global economic outlook has
improved, it remains weak outside of China - that informs our
view that risk appetite will sour," said the economists.

        Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1923
GMT:

   Stock indexes            Latest       Daily % change
 MSCI Emerging Markets       1053.08                   1.14

 MSCI LatAm                  2359.47                   0.27

 Brazil Bovespa            114098.22                  -0.15

 Mexico IPC                 55001.52                   0.24

 Chile IPSA                  5334.03                   1.47

 Argentina MerVal          261650.55                  0.606

 Colombia COLCAP             1303.42                   0.16


       Currencies           Latest       Daily % change
 Brazil real                  5.0645                   0.29

 Mexico peso                 18.8024                  -0.15

 Chile peso                      802                   0.11

 Colombia peso                4525.2                   0.01
 Peru sol                     3.8243                   1.57

 Argentina peso             185.3100                  -0.15
 (interbank)

 Argentina peso                  381                   0.52
 (parallel)

 (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Amruta Khandekar in
Bengaluru;
Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Leslie Adler)