Chilean stock indexes nosed up in lethargic trade on Friday, while the peso edged lower against the dollar as oil prices remained near record highs and the central bank continued buying greenbacks.
On the Santiago Stock Exchange, the all-market IGPA edged up 0.19 percent to close at 13,526.93 points, while the blue chip IPSA index gained 0.35 percent to 2,768.52 points. The US Independence Day holiday made for less volatility and sluggish volumes, with indexes trading nearly flat for most of the session.
"The market was clearly affected by the US holiday. There was little variation in stock prices overall, and volume was almost nothing," said Christian Contreras, an analyst with the Banchile brokerage. "Investors were taking selective positions and profits."
Blue chip gains were led by supermarket operator D&S, whose shares rose 4.13 percent, while Endesa Spain regional energy group Enersis gained 1.0 percent in late trade. Declining issues included iron ore miner CAP, whose shares fell 0.92 percent, and domestic department store chain La Polar, which retreated 1.48 percent.
On Monday, Chile will release May economic growth data, and on Thursday the central bank is expected to raise its key rate by as much as half a percentage point to 7.25 percent. "Those are the two most critical pieces of information that the market will be waiting for, next week," Contreras said.
The peso slipped 0.35 percent to close at 511.00/511.50 per dollar after closing at 509.20/509.70 on Thursday. The dollar peaked at 525 pesos on Tuesday, its highest level in 10 months, but retreated in following sessions. "Private pension funds, among others, took advantage of the dollar's decline in recent days to buy. On top of that, the peso was affected by high oil prices," one trader said.
"But trade amounts were unusually low because of the US holiday. " The central bank on Friday continued with its daily dollar purchases of $50 million on the currency exchange as part of an $8 billion intervention begun in April to curb peso strength after the dollar slumped to 430 pesos in March.