The Mexican peso continued its upward trend on Friday, appreciating for the fourth straight day to trade well below 20 to the U.S. dollar.
The peso hit 19.84 per dollar in morning trading before slightly weakening to 19.88 by midday, according to Yahoo Finance. This marks the strongest level for the currency since November.
Compared to its Bank of Mexico closing rate of 20.09 on Thursday, the peso gained 1.3% to reach 19.84, bringing its total appreciation for the week to around 2.5% after starting Monday at 20.36.
The Monex financial group credited the peso’s gains to recent comments from U.S. officials regarding Mexico.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised Mexico and the U.K. for their measured response to the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs that took effect Wednesday, contrasting their approach with Canada and the European Union, which quickly announced retaliatory measures. President Claudia Sheinbaum and Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard stated that Mexico would wait until the U.S. implements reciprocal tariffs next month before deciding on a response.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged Mexico’s efforts against cartels and illegal migration, saying, “We’ve seen a level of cooperation from Mexican authorities that we’ve never seen in the past,” though he also emphasized that “it’s not enough” and “we have to do more.”
Monex noted that statements from U.S. officials helped ease concerns about the peso, which had previously dropped to 21 per dollar on March 4 when the U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on all Mexican imports. Most of those tariffs were lifted two days later, triggering a peso rebound.
Despite its recent rally, the peso remains significantly weaker than its peak of 16.30 per dollar in April last year.