Chile's stocks climbed for a second day in a row on Friday as the market reacted to Cencosud's bid to become the country's No 1 retailer, and the peso lost ground against the dollar, in line with the euro. The IPSA blue-chip index climbed 0.67 percent to 1,745.31 points while the broader IGPA index rose 0.47 percent at 8,726.39, according to preliminary closing figures.
"The volume is concentrated in the retail sector after the announcement of a public offer for Almacenes Paris shares but the fall in the energy sector is impeding a bigger rise in the market," said Jorge Tolosa, analyst with Ugarte brokerage.
Chilean supermarket company Cencosud said it would propose a $1 billion capital increase ahead of a planned public offer to buy Almacenes Paris and merge the companies.
Cencosud lost 3.67 percent to 935.00 pesos per share on speculation rivals could launch counteroffers, while Paris was one of the session's volume leaders, gaining 2.94 percent to 810.00 on the same speculation.
Energy sector stocks have suffered since last week when Argentina cut the quantity of natural gas it supplies to Chile, hurting the country's power producers that depend on it.
Colbun shed 2.77 percent to 63.20 pesos.
On the foreign exchange market Chile's peso weakened by 1.06 percent Friday in lock step with the euro, which also fell against the dollar.
After gaining two days in a row, the peso weakened to 572.80/573.30 per US dollar, compared with Thursday's close of 566.70/567.20.
The dollar gained more than 1 percent against the euro, helped by a commitment from the United States to adhere to a strong dollar policy.
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