Mexican stocks hit a record closing high on Friday, fuelled by foreign investors who bet on improved corporate earnings from companies such as cell phone operator America Movil and steelmaker Hylsamex.
The IPC benchmark stock index jumped 1.10 percent to end at 11,078.26 points, beating the previous intraday high of 11,038 that was briefly touched the day before.
Trading volume was strong at 87 million shares. "Third-quarter reports are expected to be positive, with good growth," said Ricardo del Valle, a strategist at Investra investment consulting company in Monterrey. "Given the volumes that we have been seeing, yes, there has been more foreign investment."
In dollar terms the IPC is also at an all-time high, even after the peso lost 16 percent of its value against the greenback over the past three years. Mexico's blend of oil is currently trading near record highs, which is improving the country's finances and further bolstering stocks, analysts said.
High energy prices also helped the peso gain for a fourth straight day, adding 0.31 percent to 11.3425 per dollar, its strongest level since August.
The IPC stock index has risen more than 13 percent since it began a rally in mid-August and is up more 26 percent so far this year, outperforming a loss of more than 2 percent on the Dow Jones industrial average. Leading wireless telecommunications firm America Movil, one of the market's heavyweight stocks, surged 2.47 percent to an all-time high close of 22.78 pesos on expectations of solid quarterly profits, traders said. Its New York-traded shares rallied 2.49 percent to $40.
Among the session's big gainers was Hylsamex, which rose to four-year highs after it said on Thursday it obtained two credits totalling $160 million and prepaid other costlier loans in a balance sheet improvement. Its series B shares jumped 3.94 percent to 24.25 pesos.
Cement maker Cemex, which this week said it would buy UK-based RBC Group for $4.2 billion, gained 1.11 percent to 64.80 pesos. Its American Depositary Receipt (ADR) picked up 1.46 percent to $28.55. Fifty-four stocks gained in Mexico on Friday, while 11 moved lower and 15 remained unchanged.
Rising commodities prices amid strong demand from China and other Asian countries this year have helped boost the shares of companies in Mexico that produce primary goods such as copper and steel.
Grupo Mexico, the world's No. 3 copper producer, is among the top gainers in 2004, up more than 60 percent. Improved prices for its products have helped it reduce debt that had become worrisome to many analysts.
Comments
Comments are closed.