Posted by
alfredlester on Wednesday, December 02, 2009 9:48:54 PM
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Benchmark stock indexes in Mexico and Brazil closed higher Wednesday, adding to the prior session's rally, after J.P. Morgan upgraded Mexico and industrial production in Brazil improved for a 10th month.
Mexico's IPC index rallied 1.1% to 32,112 and Brazil's Bovespa gained 0.3% to 68,615.
The swing in Mexico's economic growth in 2010 is predicted to be 0.5% from this year, one of the largest turnarounds in emerging markets, J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in a research note. Still, the nation's stocks are under-owned, and growth in the U.S. will be a big boost for one of its largest trading partners, Adrian Mowat and Ben Laidler said.
Among the shares J.P. Morgan now rates at overweight, Ternium's U.S. shares gained 2.5% and brewer Femsa's shares rose 1.4%.
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Separately, bank concern Banorte jumped 3.5% in local trading.
Among some of the most actively-traded Mexican companies, U.S. shares of fixed-line telecommunications firm Telmex advanced 2 fast cash.6%.
Retailing giant Wal-Mart de Mexico gained 3.9% on U.S. exchanges.
U.S. shares of wireless giant American Movil declined 1.7% while cement maker Cemex slid 0.5%.
In ETF action, the iShares MSCI Mexico Investable index rose 1.4%
Meanwhile, iShares MSCI Brazil Index gained 1.1%.
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Industrial production in Brazil rose 2.2% in October compared to the previous month, the national statistics agency said.
Utility companies led the advance, with local shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras up 8.5% and Eletrobras shares gaining 6.6%.
Petrochemicals company Braskem's U.S. shares rose 4.2%.
Steel firms were among the gainers, with U.S. shares of Gerdau up 2.5% and CSN advancing 2.4%.
Oil giant Petrobras declined 0.1%.
Elsewhere in South America, Argentina's Merval index advanced 0.5% to 2,221. In Chile, the IPSA index gained 0.6% to 3,344.
Latin American Markets: Latin America stock rise; analyst upgrades Mexico