SAO PAULO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Mexican stocks led losses across Latin America on Friday as poor economic growth figures there pushed the benchmark IPC index down almost 1 percent during an otherwise quiet day in the region.
Early on Friday, Mexico's national statistics agency said gross domestic product in Latin America's second biggest economy expanded 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three-month period, below expectations.
The industrial sector in particular posted weak figures, contracting 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter, crimped by a decline in oil production. "It's a big miss. The Mexican economy seems to be slowing down," said Benito Berner, an analyst at Nomura Securities in New York.
The IPC had fallen 0.7 percent in morning trade, with Coca-Cola Femsa SAB de CV posting the biggest percentage decline on the index. The bottler was trading off 4.4 percent after reporting a fourth-quarter loss of over $1 billion on Thursday. Other equities markets in the region were essentially flat.
"The last stretch of the week sees markets without a defined trend, and with moderate price movements. That's not surprising in a week in which there was a deepening decrease in volatility," Buenos Aires-based consultancy Portfolio Personal wrote in a note to clients.
Equities in the region's largest economy, Brazil, fell slightly after credit ratings agency Fitch announced in the early afternoon that it had downgraded the country's credit rating to BB- from BB after Brazil's Congress failed to put a social security overhaul to a vote.Still, Brazil's benchmark Bovespa index was roughly even on the day overall, thanks in part to a steady morning boosted by solid earnings by electronics retailer Magazine Luiza SA and energy provider Engie Brasil Energia SA . Shares in Magazine Luiza had jumped 6.1 percent in afternoon trade, after the tech-savvy retailer shattered fourth-quarter profit estimates and announced a share buyback program. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1725 GMT:
Stock indexes daily % YTD %
Latest changechangeMSCI Emerging Markets 1215,591,223,66 MSCI LatAm3148,110,25 11,04 Brazil Bovespa 86616,48 -0,08 13,37 Mexico IPC 48631,00 -0,69 -1,47 Chile IPSA5718,88 -0,132,77 Chile IGPA 28684,85 -0,092,52 Argentina MerVal 33007,34 -0,359,78 Colombia IGBC11907,630,324,72 Venezuela IBC 5175,95 10,55-83,67 Currenciesdaily % YTD %
changechange
LatestBrazil real 3,23740,322,34
Mexico peso 18,55000,326,19 Chile peso 591,30,203,95
Colombia peso 2845,250,454,81Peru sol 3,251 -0,12 -0,43
Argentina peso19,96000,00 -6,81(interbank) Argentina peso 20,1 -0,15 -4,33(parallel) (Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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