Mexico's stocks fell on Friday after the United States' fourth-largest bank said it took a big hit from credit losses, fanning worries about the health of the US economy. The benchmark IPC stock index dropped 0.45 percent to 29,158.86, also hurt by a stiff loss in copper miner Group Mexico.
US bank Wachovia Corp said it lost about $1.1 billion on mortgage securities in October, as a credit market slump in the United States shows no signs of abating. Mexican stocks have lost about 9 percent in the last two weeks on worries about the economy in the United States, which buys more than 80 percent of Mexican exports.
"It's hard to see Mexico recovering if this tendency continues in the US," said Rogelio Gallegos, a fund manager at Actinver brokerage in Mexico City. Shares of Group Mexico, Mexico's largest copper producer, tumbled 6.51 percent to 77.80 pesos as copper prices slid 3 percent to their lowest level in 12 weeks.
Telecom bellwether America Movil, Latin America's largest cell phone company, lost 0.16 percent to 32.07 pesos. Its New York-traded shares dropped 0.84 percent to $58.68. In bond trading, the benchmark 10-year government peso bond edged up 0.042 of a point in price to bid 100.205, pushing its yield down 1 basis point to 7.96 percent.