Chilean stocks weaken

14 May, 2006

Chilean stock indexes were pulled down with other regional markets on Friday, while the peso slipped against the dollar, as the rise in US interest rates and 10-year Treasuries took some of the luster off emerging markets.
The IPSA blue chip index slipped 0.72 percent to 2,211.95 points while the broader IGPA index fell 0.64 percent to 10,211.33 points, preliminary closing figures showed.
The IPSA had hit two separate record highs earlier in the week. "The foreign markets are all down and it's obviously affecting us," said Jose Pablo Aguirre, a trader with the Euroamerica brokerage. "After a market has been rising for so long, when it turns down, people react badly and start taking profits."
Dominant telephone company CTC Chile, a subsidiary of Spain's Telefonica, slumped 2.61 percent to 1,080 pesos a share.
Heavily-weighted power generator Endesa lost 1.13 percent to end at 504 pesos a share, while leading industrial conglomerate and wood pulp producer Copec fell 1.22 percent to 5,029.90 pesos a share.
Despite the strong outlook for Latin American firms, analysts said that emerging markets in general were taking a hit from the rise in US rates and yields.
"The 10-year Treasury has gotten to the point where people are saying, maybe I don't want to add to my position" in emerging market equities, said Andrew Clark, senior analyst with the Lipper Group in Denver.
On the foreign exchange market, the Chilean peso slipped 0.49 percent to close at 516.50/517.00 per dollar compared to Thursday's close at 514.00/514.50.

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