EMERGING MARKETS-Brazilian markets shine as U.S. politics spark risk rally

Nov 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's real jumped on Tuesday, leading gains among Latin American currencies after U.S. President Donald Trump cleared the way for a smooth White House transition, adding to recent market optimism about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. The real, among the worst-hit developing world currencies, has shed over 25% versus the dollar this year, hammered by record low interest rates and concerns about Brazil's fiscal health amid a surge in coronavirus infection rates. The South American country has reported the world's third worst outbreak of the virus, behind only the United States and India. The upbeat global mood, however, drove the currency up almost 0.7% to 5.3987 per dollar. Data showed Brazil's annual rate of inflation accelerated to 4.2% in mid-November, above the central bank's year-end target, lending weight to the recent raising of average interest rate forecasts by economists. Sao Paulo shares also jumped 1.2% to touch their highest since early March, lifted by strong gains for state-run oil firm Petrobras which is set to lay out its 2021-2025 strategic plan on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. Lenders like Itau Unibanco, Banco Bradesco and Banco do Brasil rose more than 2%, providing the biggest boost to the index. The wider Latin American equities index also gained over 1%. The Mexican peso rose 0.3% to hold near its strongest levels since early March. The currency has been among the biggest beneficiaries of easing U.S. political uncertainty and recent news on vaccine breakthroughs. The Trump administration on Monday gave President-elect Joe Biden access to critical resources that will enable him to take the reins of power in January, ending weeks of political uncertainty in Washington and driving the safe-haven dollar down. Meanwhile, Peru said an eager market had soaked up its offer of $4 billion worth of debt, including a rare century bond as it scrambles to raise funds to soften the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1222.21 0.14 MSCI LatAm 2200.87 1.21 Brazil Bovespa 108487.94 1.03 Mexico IPC - - Chile IPSA 4160.28 0.7 Argentina MerVal 52545.00 2.044 Colombia COLCAP 1259.15 0.9 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.3987 0.66 Mexico peso 20.0932 0.34 Chile peso 774.2 -0.15 Colombia peso 3643.4 0.06 Peru sol 3.604 0.00 Argentina peso (interbank) 80.6900 -0.41 (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)