Mexican stocks gained on Wednesday, buoyed by a rise in cellphone operator America Movil while the peso lost ground. The benchmark IPC stock index moved up 0.75 percent to 22,340.70 points in low volume as investors took time off for the holidays.
The peso weakened 0.21 percent to 13.328 per dollar, limiting its loss so far this year to 18 percent. Mexico's banks were not involved in subprime lending that sparked the financial meltdown in the United States, but its economy is expected to shrink next year because of falling demand for its exports.
Mexico's central bank said on Tuesday that consumer prices rose 0.45 percent in the first half of December, bringing 12-month inflation to 6.56 percent. Mexico's inflation remains stubbornly high, but the central bank has said it will peak by January. Many economists expect the bank will cut interest rates to boost the economy once inflation begins to subside.