*
      Central bank decisions in U.S., Brazil, Chile this week


        *
      Brazil's January economic activity beats estimates


        *
      Mexican stock market closed for public holiday


        *
      Latam stocks up 1.5%, FX adds 0.6%



 (Updates with mid-session trading)
    By Shashwat Chauhan and Purvi Agarwal
       March 17 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies
strengthened against a weakening dollar on Monday, kicking off a
week packed with interest rate decisions globally, including in
Brazil, Chile and the United States.
    The centerpiece of the week is the Federal Reserve's
interest rate decision on Wednesday, with markets widely
expecting the central bank to hold its rate steady.
    "We should worry about whether the Fed fails to live up to
the market's hope for two or three rate cuts this year, borne by
suspicion the Fed is not 'in charge' anymore, having
relinquished control of macroeconomic policy to the Trump
administration," said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates
strategist at Macquarie.
    Data on Monday showed U.S. retail sales rebounded marginally
in February.
    The back-and-forth in U.S. trade policy has rattled markets
of late, with the dollar dipping against most developed market
peers. Latin American currencies - including Mexico's - have
cashed in on the greenback's weakness.
    Mexico's peso gave back early gains and was last down
0.2%, but hovered near its highest since November. The currency
has been rebounding from its February lows when U.S. President
Donald Trump pledged to impose 25% tariffs on all goods coming
from Mexico, but later exempted them under an existing North
American trade pact for a month.
    "The most aggressive U.S. tariff proposals are unlikely to
materialize fully, with the strength of the Mexican peso serving
as an indicator that markets share this view and are looking
through tariff-related noise," said analysts at Ashmore Group.
        The OECD still forecast that Trump's
    tariff hikes
     will drag growth in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., while
driving inflation higher.

    Brazil's real strengthened 0.9% after briefly hitting
an over four-month high in the run-up to a likely interest rate
hike on Wednesday, bringing the Selic rate to 14.25%.
    Central bank data released on Monday showed Brazil's
economic activity grew more than expected in January.
    Chile's peso firmed 0.9%, to its highest since
October, ahead of a local interest rate decision on Friday, with
expectations tilted towards the central bank holding rates
steady at 5%.
    Worries around a possible U.S. economic slowdown have
weighed on global risk assets lately, though JP Morgan analysts
note that EM stocks could be an "accidental beneficiary" of the
scare, upgrading their recommendation to "neutral" from
"underweight."
    MSCI's index for Latin American stocks
advanced 1.5%, taking its yearly gains to nearly 15%, far
outperforming the U.S. S&P 500, which has fallen almost
4% year-to-date and slipped into a technical correction last
week.
    Local bourses had an upbeat start to the week, with Brazil's
Bovespa gaining 1.6%, trading at its highest level this
year.
    The much-broader MSCI gauge for EM stocks,
meanwhile, advanced 1.1% as investors assessed plans from the
Chinese government to boost domestic consumption.
    Equity markets in Mexico were closed for a public holiday.
    Elsewhere, Kenya's international bonds fell with Kenya and
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) set to discuss a new
lending programme and abandon the current one.

    Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:









 MSCI Emerging Markets          1132.3       1.13

 MSCI LatAm                    2126.95       1.52
 Brazil Bovespa              130999.91       1.58
 Mexico IPC                          -          -
 Chile IPSA                    7601.82       1.24
 Argentina Merval            2346010.2       0.45
                                     5
 Colombia COLCAP               1634.64       0.88








 Brazil real                    5.6843       0.94
 Mexico peso                   19.9525       -0.2
 Chile peso                     920.75       0.85
 Colombia peso                 4069.91        0.6
 Peru sol                        3.641       0.41
 Argentina peso (interbank)     1067.5      -0.09

 Argentina peso (parallel)        1235       0.40




 (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru,
editing by Ed Osmond and Marguerita Choy)