Argentina's stocks and bonds fell in line with regional markets on Friday amid investor concerns about the impact of the US subprime mortgage market on the global economy, traders said. The MerVal index of 21 leading stocks closed down at 2,277.47 points, dropping 0.44 percent since the previous day's close.
"On a bad day for international markets, the MerVal could defend itself better, but it is always dependent on external trends," said Ruben Pascuali, a trader at local brokerage Mayoral. Trade volume on the broad market was relatively heavy at 107.4 million pesos ($34.1 million), 34 million pesos of which involved trade of Banco Patagonia. Among active shares, 46 advanced, 33 declined and 16 were unchanged.
Steel-pipe maker Tenaris led the session's losers, dropping 1.84 percent to 77.3 pesos per share, while Banco Hipotecario shed 1.62 percent to close at 3.03 pesos.
Local Argentine bonds slipped 1.7 percent on average, traders said, with dollar-denominated Par bonds leading the pack with losses of 2.7 percent in over-the-counter trade. On the foreign exchange market, the peso currency weakened 0.08 percent to 3.1425/3.1450 pesos per dollar in informal trade between foreign-exchange houses.