Argentine stocks slipped on Friday on profit-taking and the absence of institutional investors, traders said.
The MerVal leading share index closed down 0.78 percent at 1,183.14 points. Shares rose 3.25 percent this week and have gained 10.4 percent this year.
Trade volume reached just 44.3 million pesos ($15.1 million), down from an average of 115 million pesos per day from Monday to Wednesday, when two large local pension funds were actively trading.
"Profit-taking today was predictable, since the MerVal had a good week. It's worth noting that today's losses were accompanied by very low volume, which means the correction is nothing to worry about," said Gabriel Diodati, a trader with Macchi, Julio brokerage.
Shares in steel-tube maker Tenaris led the MerVal's losses with a drop of 3.42 percent to 9.90 pesos.
Traders continue to await details on meetings between the government and a visiting International Monetary Fund mission in Buenos Aires to review Argentina's progress under a $13.3 billion loan deal. Mission members are scheduled to leave on Sunday.
Argentina needs to secure fund approval of the review to keep aid from the lender flowing.
The country is under pressure to sweeten its offer to repay creditors just 25 percent of the $88 billion it defaulted on in January 2002.
Argentine officials have said repeatedly they will not budge from the 25 percent figure, even though creditors seek a return of 65 cents on the dollar.
Argentina, which must repay the IMF around $3 billion on March 9, is waiting for a signal the fund will lend it a similar sum under a preagreed loan deal to even out its coffers.
Local market players believe the government's offer will be improved in the coming weeks, in response to IMF pressure. Investors will be closely watching the IMF review and debt talks during March, traders say.
Argentina's peso closed slightly firmer at 2.925/2.93 per dollar, compared with Thursday's close at 2.935/2.94.
Comments
Comments are closed.