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Mixed day in the Americas
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October 18, 2000: 7:32 p.m. ET
Telecoms, media, sink Brazil; Telmex lifts Mexico; Nortel slows Toronto
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Pressure from faltering tech stocks on international indices in conjunction with sell-offs in internationally liquid telecom and media issues put pressure on many markets in the Americas Wednesday.
The Brazilian Bovespa stock index lost 3.0 percent to close at 14,421, hitting a near five-month low. Telecom and media stocks precipitated the fall.
The Mexican IPC index was up 1.04 percent by the close. Strength in such internationally liquid shares as telecom Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) helped lift the market.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's 300 composite index slipped 2.03 percent by the close, led down by sell-offs in the tech-heavy industrial products sector. Overall, eight of the 14 subindexes closed in the red.
Brazilian market slides
Brazil's benchmark stock index closed near a five-month low on Wednesday as few shares managed to lift the initial weight of a dive on U.S. markets amid expiry of local futures contracts, traders said.
The blue chip Bovespa index lost 3.0 percent of its value to end at 14,421 points, its lowest close since it finished at 14,185 on May 25. Decliners outweighed gainers by 52 to 3.
 Oil giant and market heavyweight Petrobras was one of the two stocks that managed to raise its head above water closing one percent higher at 50.00 reals. Its voting stock also gained.
Telecom heavyweight Telemar dropped 0.9 percent to 38.66 reals, and No.3 weighted Bovespa stock Globo Cabo fell 4.0 percent to 2.12 reals.
Despite the Bovespa's decline, traders pointed to the vastly higher turnover of $653 million, compared with September's daily average of $296 million, as a sign the market could be about to recover.
"We could be getting close to the floor," said Concordia broker Marcelo Porto, adding that some of the turnover increase was due to the expiry of futures contracts.
Other traders were not so sure saying the market would continue to be a slave to the vagaries of U.S. markets.
"It really depends what happens abroad," said Opportunity trader Antonio Machado.
Elsewhere in South America, the Peruvian IGRA index was down 1.63 percent to close at 1,267.76; in Argentina, the MerVal index was down 1.13 percent to 414.29; in Chile, the IGPA index was down 1.13 percent to 4,588.53; in Venezuela, the IBC index was down 0.71 percent to 6,510.18.
However, bucking the trend was the Colombian IBB index, up 0.03 percent to close at 724.52.
Mexico posts gains
Mexico's IPC index closed Wednesday up 59.35 points, or 1.04 percent, at 5769.02 points in a volatile session.
The index fell to a low of 5538.30 in the first hour of trading, crawled back to 5714 in early afternoon and powered back up to a high of 5879.13 during the last hour of trading.
Volume on Wednesday was 102 million shares, ahead of Tuesday's turnover of 82.5 million shares. There were 63 active issues, of which 31 fell, 24 rose and eight remained unchanged.
 "In the morning the Bolsa fell with U.S. markets and the afternoon comeback was driven by the central bank statement on GDP estimates and positive comments by U.S. officials regarding the telecom dispute with Mexico," said one local trader.
On Wednesday afternoon Banco de Mexico posted third quarter gross domestic product growth estimates at 7 percent. Actual GDP figures are expected on November 15.
In other economic news, Mexico's national statistics institute INEGI said Wednesday that Mexico's open, or base, unemployment rate slipped to 2.51 percent in September, above the average forecast of 2.29 percent of nine brokerages polled by Reuters .
In market action, Telmex local L shares rose 0.45 pesos to close at 21.75 pesos per share after touching an intraday low of 20.10 pesos in the morning sell off.
Telmex's New York-listed American depositary receipts, or ADRs, were up 2.09 percent at $45.69 after falling to an intraday low of $41.69.
On Wednesday afternoon a spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the U.S. has no immediate plans to file a formal World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint against Mexico over access to its $12 billion telecommunications market.
However, the U.S. reserves the right to take action in the future if the government refuses to reform, U.S. trade officials said.
U.S. and Mexican trade negotiators plan to hold additional talks aimed at settling the dispute, but no dates have been set, U.S. officials said.
Leading the decliners on Wednesday were shares of Mexican homebuilder Consorcio Ara, which fell 1.26 pesos, or 9.77 percent, to 11.60 pesos per share.
 Among the top gainers were shares of Mexico's second largest broadcaster TV Azteca, which rose 0.44 pesos, or 7.10 percent, to 6.64 pesos per CPO share. While Azteca's New York-listed ADRs closed up 0.25 percent at $24.94.
Analysts expect TV Azteca to report healthy third quarter results on the back of higher advertisement pricing and coverage of the Sydney Olympic games, but net profit may be hurt by losses at its subsidiaries..
"Despite strong operating results, the net profit picture will remain subdued due to the losses of Todito.com and Unefon, the two unconsolidated subsidiaries," said ING Barings analyst Lars Schonander in a report on TV Azteca on Wednesday.
The benchmark 48-hour peso contract finished 2.2 centavos stronger against the dollar at 9.55/9.558. Overnight rates on Cetes, or T-bills closed up 70 basis points at 16.45 percent.
See-sawing Toronto market closes down
The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index rode a roller-coaster on Wednesday, hitting its lowest closing level in four months at the end of the day as a furious sell-off roiled world markets after International Business Machines Corp. warned of weaker-than-expected revenue growth.
The TSE 300 composite index closed 205.78 points, or 2.03 percent, lower at 9926.78 on volume of 141.1 million shares worth C$3.7 billion. Decliners beat advancers 610 to 481.
On Tuesday, the market tumbled to close more than 360 points lower.
 It dropped another 300 points at Wednesday's opening, pared nearly 250 points of that loss during late morning trading, but then started falling again.
The blue chip S&P/TSE 60 index closed 15.60 points, or 2.55 percent, lower at 596.28.
"There was a little bit of panic selling when trading started. A lot of traders are identifying bargains. But money flows are still negative by virtue of a lot of selling," James Niosi, head of trading at Charles Schwab Canada, told Reuters.
Overall, eight of the 14 subindexes of the TSE 300 were down at the close, with the industrial products sector, which represents nearly half of the index, falling 4.29 percent as heavyweight Nortel Networks Corp. closed down C$5.90 at C$90.55. That Nortel move translated into a 180-plus point fall for the TSE 300 index.
In industrial products, fuel cell company Ballard Power Systems Inc. fell C$7.30 to close at C$138.70. Wireless communications equipment provider Sierra Wireless Inc. was off C$6.55 to C$114.95.
"I think it is likely we will have a slightly stronger opening tomorrow because Celestica came out with pretty strong results, and we just got the news about Microsoft that they beat analysts' expectations as well," said Elvis Picardo, an analyst with Global Securities Corp. in Vancouver.
Traders and analysts said that while a few major Canadian tech shares took a beating again on Wednesday, investors selectively bought other major tech companies like Celestica Inc., which posted strong third-quarter earnings after market close, and telecommunications giant BCE Inc., which closed up C$1.15 at C$35.40.
Electronics maker Celestica, which said third-quarter profit grew 186 percent to $55.7 million, closed C$5.10 higher at C$107.50.
Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin delivered a mini-budget about 30 minutes before closing time, but traders and analysts said Toronto stocks did not react to the big package of tax and debt cuts, coupled with a few spending plums, that were announced. 
--from staff and wire reports
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