Argentine stocks finished flat on Friday, as gains by banking stocks offset profit-taking in index heavyweight Tenaris, traders said. The MerVal index of 15 leading stocks closed down 0.01 percent at 2,081.27 points, after rising for three straight sessions in Buenos Aires.
"We had a bit of everything, with US employment data lifting the banking papers and the losses by Tenaris calming down the MerVal's performance," said Ruben Pascuali, a trader at Mayoral Bursatil.
A US government report showed on Friday that the economy created fewer jobs than expected in January, but analysts said they did not see the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates in the immediate future. Any increase in US interest rates is seen diminishing investor interest in emerging markets.
Among the day's banking-sector gainers was Banco Frances, which rose 3.13 percent to 11.5 pesos per share. Leading the losers was Tenaris, the world's biggest maker of seamless steel tubes for the energy industry, whose stock fell 0.83 percent to 71.9 pesos per share.
Trade volume in Buenos Aires rose to a moderate 83 million pesos ($26.6 million), way above Thursday's 66.6 million pesos. The Argentine peso finished the day steady against the US dollar in a session marked by the central bank's buying dollars, currency traders said.
In trading between foreign exchange houses, the peso was flat at 3.1175/3.12 per US dollar. In formal trade between banks, where the central bank regularly intervenes to keep the currency competitive for exports, it strengthened 0.16 percent to end at 3.0975/3.10 per dollar.
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