Argentine stocks retreated on Friday as investors took profits after recent all-time highs, but traders said the market's long-term trend hinged on bank interest rates and the US bond markets.
The MerVal index of the 11 leading shares slipped 0.52 percent to 1,800.58 points in thin volume, dragged down mainly by the banking sector.
The index climbed 5.05 percent in March and 16.67 percent overall in the year.
Volume was a modest 57.4 million pesos ($18.6 million) on Friday.
BBVA Banco Frances led the decline with a 2.11 percent drop to 7.89 pesos and Group Financiero Galicia slid 1.73 percent to 2.27 pesos.
The MerVal index, which is updated by market regulators on a quarterly basis, as of April 1 will consist of the same 11 companies but the weighting of each firm will change.
Steelmaker Tenaris will be by far the most influential share in the index with a 27.66 percent weighting, followed by Petrobras Participaciones with 12.69 percent.