Mexican stocks followed Wall Street higher on Friday, as retailers Soriana and Gigante gained on speculation they might merge, although the companies denied such a plan.
The IPC benchmark stock index rose 0.64 percent to 9,193.81 points, tracking the US tech-heavy Nasdaq stock index, which climbed 1.49 percent, traders said.
Soriana and Gigante, which have both lost market share to retail giant Wal-Mart de Mexico (Walmex) in recent years, denied a report by a Mexican newspaper columnist on Friday that they are in merger talks.
"The interesting part of today's session was definitely Soriana and Gigante," said Juan Jose Resendiz, director of analysis at Arka brokerage in Mexico City.
Soriana's shares were among the session's top performers, closing 5.45 percent higher at 29.00 pesos.
Merrill Lynch on Friday raised Soriana's stock rating to "buy" from "neutral", citing expectations of a recovery in macroeconomic conditions and sales.
Gigante surged 2.66 percent to end at 6.55 pesos.
Walmex gained 1.16 percent to end at 34.09 pesos, boosted by technical factors, traders said.
Next week the IPC could rise to as high as 9,350 points, depending on the quality of fourth quarter earnings reports in the United States, Resendiz said.
Telmex, which controls most of Mexico's fixed-line telecommunications market, added 0.76 percent to 18.67 pesos, while its American Depositary Receipt (ADR) rose 0.47 percent to $34.31.
Wireless telecom America Movil, which more than doubled in value in 2003, gained 0.77 percent to 17.10 pesos, while its ADR rallied 1.06 percent to $31.52.
The peso ended 0.28 percent stronger at 10.8295 per dollar on Friday, amid heavy buying by companies operating in Mexico in order to make tax payments, traders said.
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