Most Latam stocks rose, with Brazil"s Bovespa index jumping almost 2% as a semblance of risk appetite returned, while Russia"s rouble slipped amid talks of economic consequences from Washington over Moscow"s possible offensive into Ukraine. Experts, including the top U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci, said initial studies showed the Omicron variant of the coronavirus might be mild, helping some flows into risk assets. Brazilian airlines Gol (GOLL4.SA) and Azul surged around 10% each, while planemaker Embraer (EMBR3.SA) jumped 6.2% after its subsidiary received orders for 60 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft from two Australian companies. read more Infrastructure company CCR (CCRO3.SA) rose over 4% after a newspaper said Canadian pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec is looking to buy stake in the firm. read more But with little known about the Omicron variant, concerns around it still remain. Chile detected its first case of Omicron over the weekend, and its peso currency was down 0.6%. The peso is already down more than 2% this month as anxiety rises ahead of second round presidential elections on Dec. 19. Polls last week showed leftist candidate Gabriel Boric leading. Brazil"s real hit a six-week low. A reshuffle in Brazil"s economy ministry will put Daniella Marques - a key aide to Minister Paulo Guedes - in charge of promoting private-sector investments, a source said, in a push to combat growing financial market pessimism about the country"s growth prospects. "The pandemic has pushed the fiscal accounts to an even more fragile situation, with higher public spending, lower GDP level, and less credible fiscal anchors. Thus, the fiscal policy should be in the spotlight during the 2022 presidential election," said Citigroup strategists. A 4% surge in oil prices helped currencies of crude exporters Colombia and Mexico , but Russia"s rouble slipped 0.1% after a senior U.S. administration official said U.S. President Joe Biden will warn Russian President Vladimir Putin of severe economic consequences should Russia go ahead with a invasion of Ukraine. read more Concern of contagion from any default in China"s property market intensified as China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) set up a risk management committee, and was likely headed towards debt restructuring amid a serious liquidity crunch. read more In Mexico, data showed auto production and exports tumbled in November. Struggling oil company Pemex said it would issue new debt and receive a capital injection of up to $3.5 billion from the government to help manage its liabilities.[nL1N2SR1D5] Pemex"s troubles have weighed on Mexico"s credit ratings. Peru"s sol slipped with investors watching for headlines around impeachment of leftist President Pedro Castillo who took office in July. read more Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets (.MSCIEF) 1213.69 -0.89 MSCI LatAm (.MILA00000PUS) 2087.65 1.16 Brazil Bovespa (.BVSP) 107068.14 1.9 Mexico IPC (.MXX) 50609.63 0.02 Chile IPSA (.SPIPSA) 4369.02 -0.01 Argentina MerVal (.MERV) 88386.15 2.346 Colombia COLCAP (.COLCAP) 1438.73 0.47 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.6849 -0.12 Mexico peso 21.2078 0.26 Chile peso 846 -0.60 Colombia peso 3929.1 0.87 Peru sol 4.0749 -0.15 Argentina peso (interbank) 101.2800 -0.11