Argentine stocks and bonds gained on Friday as interest in emerging markets assets perked up after better-than-expected US jobs data eased fear of a recession in the world's biggest consumer nation. The MerVal index of 25 leading stocks added 1.03 percent to close at 2,277.75 points.
On the broad market, volume was moderate at $34 million and of active issues 59 advanced, 13 declined and 14 were unchanged. Petrobras Participaciones, the Argentine arm of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras, jumped 3.83 percent to 3.25 pesos per share.
"With some foreign markets hitting record highs and the global financial crisis having stabilised, the MerVal got back into a rising mood as oil stocks rose," said Mariano Tavelli, a trader with Tavelli and Company brokerage in Buenos Aires.
Argentine sovereign debt rose an average of 0.8 percent on the local market. One of the biggest gainers was the peso-denominated discount bond, which saw its price increase by 2.3 percent.
The peso currency closed mixed. In trade between foreign exchange houses, as measured by Reuters, the peso strengthened by 0.16 percent to 3.1900/3.1925 per US dollar.