The Mexican stocks closed moderately higher on Friday after a new batch of softer-than-expected US jobs data eased concerns over another hike in US interest rates next week. Higher US rates tend to draw money out of emerging market countries such as Mexico.
US employers added a smaller-than-forecast 113,000 jobs to their payrolls in July and the unemployment rate jumped unexpectedly to 4.8 percent.
The report implied a softening US labour market that may make lead Federal Reserve policy-makers to halt their two-year campaign of interest rate hikes when they meet next Tuesday.
The IPC index of leading shares rose up to 2.22 percent, but ongoing political uncertainty pulled it down from session highs, and it ended just 0.46 percent higher at 20,354.99 points.
Security has been increased at Mexico City's airport so leftists challenging presidential election results cannot block flights as part of their crippling protests, the government said on Friday.
Claiming vote fraud, supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have seized a long stretch of the capital's main Reforma boulevard and the huge Zocalo square to demand a recount of the July 2 election that the leftist narrowly lost.
In stock trading, phone giant Telefonos de Mexico gained 2 percent to 13.63 pesos and its American Depositary Receipts advanced 2.3 percent to $24.91.
Cellular phone giant America Movil rose early in the session, but then lost steam, finishing down 0.21 percent at 19.46 pesos. Its ADR rose 0.65 percent to $35.75.
Merrill Lynch on Thursday raised its share price target on the company to $43 from $40, citing America Movil's stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. Cement maker Cemex fell 0.41 percent to 31.80 pesos.
The peso strengthened 5.65 centavos to close at 10.9050 per dollar.
"After US data were disclosed, there were dollar sales," one local trader said.
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