Mexican shares reversed losses to finish marginally higher on Friday, with losses in blue chip America Movil offset by gains in retail powerhouse Wal-Mart de Mexico. The peso gave ground. The IPC index ended the session 0.09 percent higher at 19,527.37 points after spending almost the entire day in negative territory.
America Movil, Latin America's leading cellphone operator slid 1.33 percent lower to 18.54 pesos, and its New York-traded shares fell 1.58 percent to $33.55.
The IPC stock index rallied 5.22 percent on Wednesday, its second strongest percentage gain this year, after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were interpreted as hinting at a possible pause in US interest rate hikes. The prospect of an end to the Fed's two-year-long rate-raising campaign could send money back into emerging markets like Mexico as investors seek higher returns.
Jorge Lagunas, head of market trading at Interacciones financial group, said the decline for most of Friday was driven by profit taking after the market's "overreaction of nearly 900 points on Wednesday."
But Wal-Mart de Mexico rose 2.73 percent to 33.16 pesos. Earlier this month, the retailer posted a 33 percent jump in second-quarter net profits, helped by Easter shopping and the World Cup soccer tournament.
Geo, Mexico's No 2 homebuilder, jumped 5.44 percent to end at 42.08 pesos, the top gainer for the day. Analysts surveyed by Reuters on Friday predicted that the company will post a 35 percent rise in net earnings when it reports its second-quarter results on Monday. The peso eased 0.50 percent to 10.9435 per dollar after gaining strongly in recent sessions.
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