Chile's benchmark IPSA index plummeted 1.7 percent on Friday, in line with global markets on investor worries about the strength of an economic recovery in the United States. The IPSA closed at 3,314.45, while the all-market IGPA lost 1.4 percent to close at 15,653.08. Becker added that many hedge funds and mutual funds look to reduce their exposure to certain companies at the end of the month.
Friday's skid erased gains a day earlier when the government announced better-than-expected unemployment results. Dragging the IPSA lower was Chile steel and iron ore producer CAP, which fell 3.8 percent to close at 13,823 pesos, while Chilean forestry group CMPC, closed 3.5 percent lower at 19,013 pesos.
Earlier in the day, Chile's peso closed nearly unchanged on low volume, firming slightly to 530.70/531.20 per dollar from Thursday's close of 531.00/531.50. The peso has nearly recovered the 22.3 percent it lost against the greenback in 2008 during the worst of the financial crisis last year.