By Carla Mozee
Major Latin American markets finished higher Wednesday, largely
shadowing Wall Street as investors weighed new data indicating
improvement within the U.S. economy.
Assets throughout emerging markets had a mixed day, "as U.S.
equity volatility remained high ... and stocks struggled to find
direction, opening firm, selling-off hard mid-day before staging a
strong late-day recovery -- creating a very difficult trading
environment," wrote analysts at RBC Capital Markets.
Brazil's Bovespa index rose 0.8% to 41,799.30, with gains from
Redecard, after the credit-card issuer said Citigroup Inc. raised 2
billion reals from the sale of a part of its stake in the company.
Redecard shares climbed 7.7%.
Mexico's IPC picked up 0.1% to 20,272.77, led by a 5.3% rise in
shares of brewer Grupo Modelo.
But the benchmark's losses were capped, in part, by a 2.3%
decline in shares of mining firm Industrias Penoles and a 0.5% fall
in shares of beverage maker Fomento Economico Mexicano (FMX).
In Argentina, the Merval rose 0.6% to 1,110.87. In Santiago, the
IPSA rose 0.3% to 2,546.98.
Equities around the region and in the U.S. gained earlier in the
session after the Commerce Department said demand for big-ticket
manufactured goods, such as machinery, jumped 3.4% in February.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected total durable goods
orders to fall 1.2%.
The figures, although volatile, are seen as leading indicators
for tracking the path of economic growth.
The department also said that sales of new homes rose by 4.7%,
following a drop to a record-low in January.
Sluggish demand for a U.S. five-year note auction put pressure
on U.S. stocks, but they recovered toward the end of the session as
housing and financial stocks found strength.
News about economic conditions in the U.S. is closely monitored
in Latin America, as the region, and in particular Mexico, has
close ties with the country. Improvement in the U.S. economy, which
has been battling recession, could result in increased demand for
goods from Latin American companies.
But the region, along with other countries around the world, is
set to enter recession this year, the International Monetary Fund
said Wednesday, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.
Meanwhile in Brazil, the government outlined plans to spend $15
billion to construct about a million new homes for low-income
workers in an effort to bolster economic growth.
Shares of Rossi Residencial fell 1.9% and Gafisa (GFA) slumped
1.6%.