 |
|
|
 Business News | July 2007 
Mexico's Peso Falls Sharply on US Economy Concerns
 Reuters
go to original
 |  | People are concerned that the subprime issue is going to spread to asset markets outside the United States.
- Dustin Reid, currency strategist |  | |
Mexico City - Mexico's peso fell sharply on Wednesday on concerns about the U.S. economy, while a stiff loss in bellwether telecom America Movil pushed down stocks.
The peso was off 0.52 percent at 10.864 per dollar, while the benchmark IPC stock index slipped 0.70 percent to 31,242 points.
U.S. existing-home sales fell more than expected in June, bolstering worries about U.S. economic growth. The United States buys nearly 90 percent of Mexican exports, and trouble in the U.S. subprime mortgage sector has weighed on equities in both countries in recent weeks.
"People are concerned that the subprime issue is going to spread to asset markets outside the United States," said Dustin Reid, a currency strategist at ABN Amro in New York.
Trading in the stock market was choppy, with the IPC index rising more than 1 percent in early trade only to sink by as much as 2 percent as investors digested America Movil's second-quarter earnings report and the data on U.S. housing.
America Movil, Latin America's largest cell phone operator, fell 1.44 percent to 33.54 pesos after it reported a 31 percent increase in second-quarter profits, slightly less than expected. Its New York traded shares fell 1.78 percent to $61.96.
"There were higher hopes for this report," said one trader in Mexico City.
Leading retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico shed 0.93 percent to 39.30 pesos.
Shares of Carso Telecom, a holding company used by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim to control fixed-line telephone giant Telmex, dropped 3.38 percent to 49.80 pesos.
On the winning end, airport operator GAP rose 3.79 percent to 54.98 pesos after the company raised its passenger traffic forecast for this year on Tuesday and said it was interested in expanding into the Caribbean and South America.
In debt trading, the price of the benchmark 10-year government peso bond was flat, bidding 101.963 with a yield of 7.68 percent. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us