|
Americas hang separately
|
 |
September 17, 1998: 5:03 p.m. ET
Hemispheric markets all end sharply- to-slightly lower, mired in local woes
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Stock traders in Latin America and Canada on Thursday continued to mull the implications of U.S. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's testimony with bearish results and, at least in the case of Brazilian stocks, sharp losses.
Brazilian shares ended down nearly 5 percent, regaining some ground after plunging more than 10 percent earlier in the session.
Traders said the market was digesting reports of international aid offers after initial disappointment that a worldwide interest rate cut would not materialize.
Sao Paulo's key Bovespa index ended down 4.84 percent, 327 points, at 6,432 after setting off the circuit-breaker of trading with its earlier drop.
Among the news that traders cited as hurting the market was Greenspan's Wednesday testimony in which he said the world's central bankers had not agreed to coordinate cuts in interest rates.
The Mexican bourse substantially cut morning losses by the close as investors took refuge from collapsing shares and currency risk in Brazil, dealers said.
"It looks like some foreign players are selling (Brazilian) reais and buying pesos to step into Mexico," a desk trader said.
The leading IPC stock index ended off 19.20 points, or 0.56 percent, at 3,395.48. Volume was brisk at 106.2 million shares, and turnover active at 1.26 billion pesos.
The index dropped by as much as 5.7 percent in early morning trade in reaction Greenspan's testimony, but traders said international investors were hunting for bargains in the afternoon, allowing the IPC to buck the downward trend on Wall Street and in Latin America.
"What Greenspan said does affect us and that's why we were down this morning. But now it seems people are betting on Mexico, which has attractive things like a cheap peso and cheap stocks," one trader said.
Venezuelan stocks slid 18.96 points, 0.64 percent, to 2,921.51.
Canadian stocks fell as bank shares were hit hard by a fall in the Canadian dollar and a call from Prime Minister Jean Chretien to cut local interest rates for the sake of the global economy.
Toronto's benchmark TSE 300 stock index ended the day down 3.06 percent, losing 180.45 points to 5,725.60. Volume was stronger than in recent days with 90 million shares traded.
The Canadian dollar plunged three quarters of a cent to 65.33 U.S. cents in a second consecutive day of heavy losses as investors continued to react to Chretien's call for lower U.S. and Canadian interest rates.
Chretien, a former finance minister, made his remarks Wednesday after Greenspan's testimony.
Overall in Toronto, only one of the TSE 300's 14 subindexes - the gold and precious metals group - ended in the black. The golds gained 4.36 percent on the day, energized by a $3.40 increase in the price of December gold on Comex.
The heavily-weighted finance sector was hit particularly hard, plunging 5.17 percent or 375 points on the rate news and newspaper reports that the government was reluctant to approve two large domestic bank mergers.
All four of the would-be partners led the sector's losses. Canadian Imperial Bank lost 7 percent, Bank of Montreal (BMO) shed 5.84 percent, Royal Bank of Canada (RY) fell 4.67 percent and Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) lost 5.22 percent.
Banking shares also drove Montreal stocks lower as the Canadian Banks group lost 6.12 percent, making up the bulk of the Market Portfolio index's 4.57-percent slide. The Portfolio closed at 2,925.94, down 140.02 points. 
-- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
