* Eyes on Brazilian elections, trucker"s strike * Latam stocks rise, Brazilian shares up 1.7% * Trading in Mexico"s stock market shut for local holiday (Updates prices) By Ambar Warrick and Susan Mathew Feb 1 (Reuters) - Mexico"s peso led gains across Latin American currencies on Monday, surging more than 1%, as widespread retail buying pushed silver prices to eight-year highs. The peso was supported by silver"s 9% gain as retail investors piled into the metal. Mexico was the world"s largest silver producer in 2019, according to German database firm Statista. (bit.ly/3to8HHx) Silver has become the new focus in a broader retail trading trend sparked by social media forums, which has pumped up prices of several U.S.-listed stocks in which Wall Street investors had large short positions. The peso was recovering from its worst week in four months after data on Friday showed the Mexican economy had suffered its worst slump since the 1930s. A rise in oil prices also supported the peso on Monday, helped by falling inventories and hopes of sustained global demand. "It will be interesting to see the small players" power and how much further they can push (silver) prices," Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM, wrote in a note. "There is no doubt the power of collective retail investors has taken the market by surprise." Brazil"s real made small gains with investors focused on congressional elections and a trucker"s strike. Analysts and politicians said allies of Brazil"s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro are set to win leadership roles in Congress on Monday. Meanwhile, truckers began their first day of a planned strike against rising fuel prices that raised fears of a repeat of a 2018 protest that snarled roadways and depleted store shelves. Most other Latin American currencies were flat to lower. They had marked steep losses last week as possible delays in U.S. pandemic-related aid, high COVID-19 infections and a sluggish vaccine rollout dented appetite for risk-driven assets. Tracking a rebound on Wall Street, most regional stock indexes made handsome gains on Monday, with Chile"s IPSA index rising for the first time in four days. Brazil"s Bovespa rose almost 2% on broad-based gains. Energy firm Eneva was the top gainer on the Bovespa after it entered into exclusive talks with oil major Petrobras to purchase a complex of oil and gas fields in the Amazon rainforest known as the Urucu cluster. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1359.15 2.22 MSCI LatAm 2313.44 1.24 Brazil Bovespa 117022.78 1.7 Chile IPSA 4378.70 2.1 Argentina MerVal 49581.11 2.744 Colombia COLCAP 1351.91 0.28 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.4606 0.28 Mexico peso 20.3700 1.06 Chile peso 735.4 -0.44 Colombia peso 3572.13 -0.13 Peru sol 3.6398 -0.11 Argentina peso 87.6000 -0.31 (interbank) (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru Editing by David Goodman and Paul Simao)