By Anthony Harrup
MEXICO CITY--Mexican stocks closed higher Tuesday, in line with
U.S. equities, while the peso firmed against the dollar following
an unexpected drop in U.S. retail sales for June.
The IPC index of leading issues closed up 0.3% at 45,137 points
on volume of 139.4 million shares valued at 5.6 billion pesos ($358
million).
Energy company Ienova (IENOVA.MX) shares rose 2.6% to MXN81.13.
The company, a unit of Sempra Energy (SRE), won a $147.5 million
contract to build a 23-kilometer natural-gas pipeline in northern
Mexico for state electric utility CFE. The pipeline is expected to
go into operation in early 2017.
Building materials company Elementia (ELEMENT.MX) shares rose
1.3% to MXN19.00. Elementia said all the overallotments from its
initial public offering were exercised, adding 30.2 million shares
to the 201 million placed last week. The shares priced at MXN17.00
in the IPO.
The peso appreciated against the U.S. dollar, closing in Mexico
City at MXN15.6625, according to Infosel, compared with MXN15.7140
on Monday.
The dollar weakened after the U.S. Commerce Department reported
a surprise 0.3% drop in June retail sales, against expectations of
a 0.2% increase from May.
The Monex brokerage said gains in local stocks and bonds
supported a stronger peso, as did the lower implicit probability of
the Federal Reserve raising rates in September.
Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com