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Latins slide on icy volumes
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December 22, 1998: 4:28 p.m. ET
Bovespa leads decline in region as profit taking brings 1.2 percent fall
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Latin American stocks ended lower in scant volume on Tuesday as investors slipped into a holiday mood and away from the market, traders said.
In the absence of firm direction in Brazil, profit-taking took over after Monday's 6-percent market gain.
The blue-chip Bovespa index ended down 87 points, 1.2 percent, at 7,115. Volume was estimated at a paltry 317 million reais ($264 million).
"Volume was pitiful. The market has practically stopped," one local trader said.
Declines in bellwether Telebras preferred (TBH) outpaced the broader market, falling 2.7 percent to 97 reais.
Telebras had climbed 7.78 percent on Monday as investors tried to boost prices before exercising their options. Options on blue-chip shares expired Monday.
News that the U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left key U.S. interest rates unchanged had little impact on the local market, traders said.
Mexican stocks also retained modest losses throughout the day to close lower.
"The market is drifting, it is down a little in thin volume and waiting for news that could move the market," a floor trader said.
The leading IPC share index ended off 10.46 points, or 0.27 percent, at 3,899.11.
Most other markets throughout the region tracked the retreats in Brazil and Mexico, closing slightly lower.
Venezuelan stocks fell 13.64 points, 0.30 percent, to 4,546.94 in a nearly-deserted market, traders said.
A tepid bounce in oil prices also contributed to the crude-rich Venezuelan market's decline. Light sweet crude only advanced 13 cents per barrel to $11.15, still hovering near last week's 12-year lows.
Peruvian blue chips slid 4.70 points, 0.34 percent, to 1,365.12, while Chilean stocks gave up 8.17 points, 0.22 percent, to end at 3,646.36.
Argentina's benchmark MerVal index firmed a scant 0.06 points to 436.42.
Traders said declines in neighboring Brazil weighed only slightly on the Argentine market as the profit-taking had been expected. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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