Chilean stocks fell on Friday as investors reacted to a choppy day on US markets. The all-market IGPA stock index closed 0.61 percent lower at 14,501.19 points, while the trade-weighted blue chip IPSA index fell 0.72 percent to 3,236.28 points.
Modest early gains on the Santiago exchange turned negative shortly after US markets opened. "It was a slow session. There's a high level of uncertainty in the market. Clearly, because of the United States, but there are also factors in other regions," said Agustin Alvarez, an analyst with the BICE brokerage.
Heavily weighted industrial conglomerate and wood pulp producer Copec gave back an early session advance to close 0.58 percent lower at 8,200 pesos a share. Copper cable manufacturer Madeco saw its shares slip 2.72 percent to 66.50 pesos after surging nearly 18 percent in the prior three sessions on news it would sell off a division.
French cable manufacturer Nexans confirmed on Thursday it had signed a preliminary agreement to purchase Madeco's cable division. Other declining shares included brewer CCU, down 2.23 percent, and leading supermarket chain D&S with a retreat of 2.01 percent.
The few rising blue chip issues included retailers Ripley, up 4.88 percent to 607.02, and Cencosud, with a gain of 0.42 percent to 2,001 pesos.Cencosud confirmed on Friday in a note to the stock and insurance regulator (SVS) that it was exploring the possibility of acquiring the assets of Mexican retailer Gigante.
Analysts say the uncertainty on global markets is likely to continue. "These are things that don't clear up from one moment to the next," BICE's Alvarez said. Chile's peso weakened 0.10 percent to 507.20/507.70 per dollar, compared with Thursday's close at 506.70/507.00.
"There was a demand for dollars by institutional investors, such as insurance companies and pension funds, because of the negative trend in global stock markets," a trader said. Chilean inflation-adjusted five-year central bank bond yields firmed to 2.81 percent compared with 2.80 percent in the prior session.