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Mexican shares

slightly up

MEXICO CITY: Mexican stocks recouped early losses from a weak Dow Jones and managed to end marginally higher Tuesday in a technical rebound from recent profit-taking, traders said.

The IPC index of 37 leading shares ended 0.82 of a point higher at 2,522.64. It hit a session low of 2,509.69 before bouncing back.

"The market ended very strong. The recent adjustment purged a lot of selling from the market and has created more stability," one dealer said.

Volume picked up during the course of the day and ended at an active 106.5 million shares.

Traders said the market's spirits were helped by a stable secondary money market that indicated interest rates might rise only slightly during the weekly primary auction later in the day.

Some analysts said the market was poised to stage a rally if expectations grow that the government will use a first-half fiscal surplus to spur the economy at year's end.

The first-half surplus data was due out later in the day.

"The market is looking for signs about the future of the government's economic plan," said Ricardo Peon, director of analysis at Baring Securities in Mexico.-Reuter