SAO PAULO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Equities in Chile posted solid
gains on Friday, as prices for key export copper ticked up on
solid Chinese industrial data and the country gears up for a
tight presidential election over the weekend.
Sunday's election pits conservative billionaire Sebastian
Pinera, favored by investors, against center-left Senator
Alejandro Guillier. Pinera, who once had a strong lead,
disappointed in a first round vote in November, sending Chile's
blue-chip IPSA index tumbling almost 10 percent by Dec. 7,
before it pared losses in recent days.
Though the margin is expected to be razor-thin, some
analysts are still giving a slight edge to Pinera, as he
benefits from a more disciplined political coalition than
Guillier, who has been working to win the support of the
hard-left Frente Amplio (Broad Front) coalition.
"How supporters of the leftist Broad Front vote in the
run-off remains the critical factor, and predicting how such a
new and heterogeneous group will vote is difficult," wrote
Nicholas Watson, senior vice president of political risk
consultancy Teneo Intelligence.
"That said, Pinera is likely to retain a slight edge."
A rise in copper prices on Friday helped push Chile's IPSA
up 0.6 percent by midday, after China, a key importer of
the metal, beat analysts' estimates for November industrial
production.
Equities in neighboring Argentina were also performing well
on Friday, led by energy stocks, such as Pampa Energia SA
which jumped 2 percent by early afternoon.
Analysts at consultancy Balanz Capital said expectations of
changes in the composition of the benchmark Merval
index, which climbed 0.68 percent, were causing some one-time
movements.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1525 GMT:
Stock indexes daily % YTD %
Latest change change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1117,74 -0,31 30,03
MSCI LatAm 2717,97 0,44 15,62
Brazil Bovespa 72939,95 0,71 21,11
Mexico S&P/BVM IPC 48051,12 -0,36 5,28
Chile IPSA 5149,98 0,6 24,05
Chile IGPA 25827,90 0,57 24,57
Argentina MerVal 27324,80 0,68 61,51
Colombia IGBC 11026,72 -0,62 8,87
Venezuela IBC 1311,26 3,62 -95,86
Currencies daily % YTD %
change change
Latest
Brazil real 3,3146 0,64 -1,97
Mexico peso 19,1535 0,02 8,30
Chile peso 639 -0,14 4,96
Colombia peso 2998,53 -0,22 0,10
Peru sol 3,259 -0,52 4,76
Argentina peso (interbank) 17,5800 -0,74 -9,70
Argentina peso (parallel) 18 -0,22 -6,56
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Frances Kerry)
