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Americas erase gains
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April 19, 1999: 5:01 p.m. ET
Most markets get hit by Wall Street's weakness and selling by profit seekers
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - In parallel with Wall Street's afternoon slump and investors' profit consolidation, many Latin American stock markets pulled back from heady morning gains that had resulted from international buying.
Consequently, most bolsas pared significant advances, and many ended the day in negative territory.
Likewise in Toronto, equities also were beating a path northward for the first half day of trade, but finished their session in the red.
In Brazil, stocks erased their gains after advances on Wall Street slowed down, taking the heat out of a local morning rally, traders said.
The market's blue chip Bovespa index was down 271 points, or 2.37 percent, at 11,158 in late afternoon trade, after jumping as much as 2.8 percent earlier in the day on news the country was returning to international capital markets.
Brazil's plan to sell at least $1 billion in five-year bonds fueled the market from the opening and helped offset market nervousness over the Senate and police probe into alleged insider trading on the foreign exchange market.
Former central bank president Francisco Lopes, who oversaw Brazil's mid-January relaxation in currency policy, is due to appear before the Senate's Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry later Monday in much-awaited testimony.
Traders said Brazilian stocks also were suffering from a bout of profit-taking after the Bovespa's 6.7 percent rise last week.
Mexican stocks retreated from an early rally that was fueled by a steady stream of international funds flowing into the local market, traders said.
After climbing nearly 2 percent, the IPC index ended the day down 92.27 points, or 1.66 percent, at 5,464.17.
"It's losing its upside trend on a bit of profit-taking," one trader said earlier in the afternoon.
"Investors have lost interest in some companies, but the market, it's still solid," he added.
The stock market in Venezuela was closed Monday for a public holiday to mark the anniversary of preliminary signing of Venezuelan independence.
Elsewhere in the region, shares in Argentina rocketed higher, boosted by strong buys in the steel sector as investors swooped in to pick up undervalued stocks.
But in tandem with the rest of the region, the Merval index retreated, paring a 7.2 percent gain to end the day up 3.13 percent at 509.36.
International interest in market bellwether Telefonica del Peru buoyed shares on Lima's General Index, which closed up 2.78 percent at 1,630.11. Meanwhile, in Chile, stocks were up 1.35 percent at 4,579.82 in late afternoon trade, and in Colombia, equities jumped 3.2 percent to close at 1,031.41.
Toronto turns tail
Toronto stocks reversed direction Monday, tumbling 1.5 percent as losses in banking and other key sectors accumulated.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's 300 Composite index closed down 105.53 points at 6,907.70.
The majority of the TSE 300's 14 subindex's yielded ground, led by the communications and media sectors, which fell 3.84 percent, the financial services group, which shed 2.86 percent, and industrial products, which dropped 2.76 percent.
Oil and gas stocks were among those sectors bucking the negative trend. They rose 3.15 percent. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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