Mexican stocks closed at a record high on Friday, driven by gains for construction company Geo and mobile telephone firm America Movil.
The IPC benchmark stock index added 0.55 percent to end at 16,545.44 points, its highest level ever, as the bourse continued to benefit from expectations that local interest rates will move lower, making equities a more profitable bet.
America Movil, which tends to set the market's direction because of its size, moved 0.81 percent higher to 14.91 pesos and its New York-traded shares rose 0.65 percent to $28.01.
The company, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, has anticipated another year of strong results and subscriber base growth in 2006 and its stock is trading at record highs.
The bourse "is being driven by the most liquid shares, like America Movil, Cemex and Wal-Mart (de Mexico), which is where money coming into Mexico is going," said one analyst. Wal-Mart de Mexico, controlled by Wal-Mart Stores Inc, was up 0.48 percent to 56.53 pesos.
Geo, one of Mexico's top builders of houses that sell for less than $40,000, jumped 4.48 percent to 35.43 pesos.
Group Televisa, the No 1 producer of Spanish-language shows in the world, added 1.27 percent to 42.29 pesos while its New York-traded shares gained 1.12 percent to $79.44.
Televisa, known for its soap-opera productions, has benefited from increased political advertising as Mexico's 2006 presidential elections near.
The peso currency eased 0.19 percent to 10.6565 per dollar, returning some of the gains accumulated so far this month as local bonds attracted foreign investors looking to beat yields on US Treasuries.
The IPC stock index, up about 28 percent in 2005, has also benefited during the year from interest from international funds.
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