Mexican stocks climbed nearly 1 percent on Friday after the central bank eased interest rates to bolster economic growth. Stock market gains were led by recently beaten down airline holding company Cintra and blue chip America Movil.
The central bank called for a 25-basis-point drop in the closely watched overnight lending rate to 8.75 percent on Friday, a decision that was widely expected and already discounted by foreign exchange traders.
The IPC benchmark stock index was 152 points higher in morning trade at 16,902, moving toward its record high of 17,014 points posted on Wednesday.
The peso, trading at highs not seen since August, was near flat at 10.6090 per dollar.
Falling interest rates make bonds less attractive and often lead investors to shift money into the stock market. State-owned airline holding company Cintra rebounded 4.35 percent to 4.80 pesos after falling around 28 percent in the prior three sessions.
Cintra said on Monday that only two bidders were interested in buying its leading carriers Aeromexico and Mexicana, sparking a sell-off by investors who had hoped to cash in on higher demand for the airlines.
America Movil, the top Latin American mobile telephone operator, which tends to lead stock trends because of its heavy weighting in the market, added 1.65 percent to 15.44 pesos.
Its New York-traded shares picked up 1.29 percent to $29.07.