Argentine stocks fell on Friday as investors dumped shares as they took profits after a sharp runup earlier in the week but many remained upbeat about the country's economic outlook, traders said. The MerVal index of the 11 leading stocks slipped 0.60 percent to 1,429.37 points but the index was still up 6.01 percent on the week and 3.93 percent so far this year. "Today was a logical correction after advancing more than 100 points in recent session. A lot of people are holding on to their profits," said Horacio Corneille, head of a brokerage by the same name.
Despite the slide, investors remain upbeat since most first-quarter earnings have so far been at the high end of expectations. They are also expecting a US appeals court to rule in favour of Argentina in an upcoming decision and lift a freeze on $7 billion worth of defaulted bonds.
"We should be cautious since I see people have priced in an end to the embargo on the bonds. If the ruling is delayed, the market could start to feel the impact," said Juan Gomez Vega, analyst with Invertir Online.
Steelmaker Siderar pressured the MerVal downward with a 3.08 percent tumble to 22 pesos after reporting a January-March net profit of 417 million pesos.
Energy firm Petrobras Participaciones, which is expected to report its earnings on Monday, gained 2.59 percent to 3.57 pesos.
Trade volume was 85.3 million pesos ($29.3 million).
In the foreign exchange market, the peso closed flat on Friday on aggressive intervention by the state-owned Banco de la Nacion to stem a flood of exporters' dollars in the market, traders said.
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