Argentine stocks fell on Friday on news that a US judge placed restrictions on Argentine military property in the United States, wiping out the last of this year's gains, traders said.
Argentina's MerVal share index closed down 2.79 percent at 1,053.26 points, after falling as much as 3.5 percent earlier in the day.
Shares lost 7.67 percent this week and have slipped 1.74 percent so far this year.
The bourse had already fallen sharply in recent sessions due to market volatility in neighbouring Brazil.
Turnover was well above average at 107 million pesos ($36.2 million). The measure by a judge in Maryland is the first such ruling in favour of creditors holding some $88 billion in defaulted Argentine bonds and seeking to regain lost inve "The debt and the embargoes fuelled the market's fall," said Marcelo Barreyro of Puente Hermanos brokerage.
"The downturn over the last few days will affect the market and it will be hard to generate confidence again. The key issue now is the negotiations with the IMF," said Leopoldo Olivari, a trader with Bacque brokerage.
Argentine Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna is to meet the International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Horst Koehler in Miami on Monday to discuss the upcoming second review of a $13.3 billion loan deal.
Trade in the MerVal has been unusually volatile in the last two weeks due in part to losses on Brazilian markets and doubts over the Argentine government's progress in restructuring its defaulted debt.