Argentine stocks hovered at their lowest since October 2006 on Friday, and bonds also lost ground, hit by a global sell-off in emerging markets. The MerVal index shed 0.93 percent to 1,678.74, shedding 4.52 percent over the last two sessions. Volume was a light $27.4 million. Of active issues 29 advanced, 80 declined and 14 were unchanged.
Steel pipe maker Tenaris slid 3.72 percent to 69.8 pesos per share, its lowest close since February. Tenaris is weighted as 14 percent of the MerVal and moves with oil prices since it supplies that industry.
"As long as there are still signs of weakness in the United States, driving down the international markets, the MerVal will continue with the same trend with scarce volume," said Guido Macchi, trader with Julio Macchi brokerage in Buenos Aires.
Argentine government debt traded on the local market fell 0.6 percent on average led by the dollar-denominated Boden 14, which gave up 2.4 percent. The United States unemployment rate hit a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August, fanning fears of global economic weakness and hammering global stocks.