Friday, June 10, 2011

Chile Stocks Close Lower On Global Economic Health Jitters

SANTIAGO (Dow Jones)--Chile's blue-chip Ipsa index ended lower Friday, tracking slumping U.S. markets as worries about global economic health returned to the forefront.

The Ipsa closed 0.5% lower at 4737.51 points, while market volume decreased to 137.5 billion Chilean pesos ($294.0 million) from CLP145.8 billion in the prior session.

Trading in financial services group Grupo Security (SECURITY.SN) accounted for 30% of volume after the company sold 181.1 million shares and raised $842 million through a capital increase.

As several of the Ipsa's heavier-weighted shares also trade in New York, the Ipsa often tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The DJIA ended 1.4% lower at 11951.91 on concerns about the U.S. economic recovery.

Also helping to congeal a sense of unease about global economic health, European stocks dropped amid persistent worries over Greek debt and a surprise interest-rate increase by the Bank of Korea drove some Asian bourses sharply lower.

"There was a spate of bad economic news from around the globe today, which pulled shares lower," said Claudio Gonzalez, studies head at local brokerage Tanner Corredores de Bolsa.

Among dually listed shares, flagship carrier LAN Airlines (LFL, LAN.SN) lost 1.8% to CLP12,774.00 as the presence of volcanic ash from the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile forced it ground some flights to and from Argentina's two biggest airports.

Dually listed banks Banco Santander Chile (SAN, BSANTANDE.SN), the Andean nation's biggest bank in terms of loans, dropped 0.8% to CLP40.53 and CorpBanca (BCA, CORPBANCA.SN) shed 1.1% to CLP7.52.

Meanwhile, financially troubled retailer La Polar (LAPOLAR.SN) rebounded 18.6% to CLP1,603.70, after dropping 42% Thursday, when it revealed it needed to provision an additional $430 million to cover unorthodox accounting practices related to its store credit-card business.

In other market news, the peso ended weaker against the dollar, tracking the tumble copper prices took on the London Metal Exchange. The peso closed at CLP467.50 to the dollar, compared with Thursday's close at CLP466.30, after trading in a narrow range of CLP467.50 to CLP468.80.

As part of its $12 billion currency-intervention program, Chile's central bank purchased $50 million Friday at an average rate of CLP468.20 to the dollar. The central bank has accumulated $5.6 billion so far this year.

In the bond market, yields on inflation-indexed Chilean central bank bonds, or BCUs, ended unchanged in a quiet session. The yield on five-year BCU bonds ended at 2.62%, unchanged from Thursday, while the yield on 10-year BCUs closed at 2.91%, also unchanged from the previous session.

Source: http://online.wsj.com

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