Argentine stocks inched upward on Friday for the fourth straight session, shrugging off an upturn in US Treasury yields that is seen as dulling the allure of emerging markets, traders said. The MerVal index of the 12 leading stocks closed 0.36 percent higher at 1,458.19 points, accumulating an increase of 6 percent so far this year but still below the record high of 1,600.32 points on February 25.
Trading volume fell slightly compared with Thursday to 91.3 million pesos ($31.2 million).
"In the marketplace, caution reigned given the weak external factors. Short-term, very specific purchases dominated," said Juan Gomez Vega, an analyst with Invertironline Web site.
Yields on US 10-year and 30-year Treasuries rose to 4.5 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively. Stocks in Brazil, Mexico and the United States were all down when the MerVal closed.
"We didn't see a new repositioning on international fears of greater yields in the United States," said Gabriel Lynch, an analyst at Empresas y Valores brokerage.
Stock market index heavyweight Group Financiero Galicia - which accounts for a quarter of the MerVal's weighting - slipped 0.82 percent on Friday to 2.42 pesos.