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Mexico stocks

marginally higher

MEXICO CITY: Mexican stocks closed an uneven session slightly higher, buoyed by airline Aeromexico but undermined by Mexican ADRs' performance on Wall Street and the peso's fall against the dollar, traders said on Friday.

The IPC index of 37 leading shares ended 1.53 points higher at 2,486.95, a gain of just 0.06 percent.

"The dollar's gain against the peso and the fall of ADRs hit the market," one trader said.

Volume was a hefty 191.06 million shares, of which Aeromexico, buoyant because of a well-received restructuring plan, accounted for 82.8 million.

Aeromexico unit Mexicana, which under the plan will be sold off separately by a bank-controlled holding company, gained 10.67 percent on its 3 shares while Aeromexico CPO shares rose 9.8 percent.

"Aeromexico is still going up because people seem to have changed their view,they think it will gain quite a lot after the restructuring," one analyst said.

Mexican ADRs on Wall Street ended a volatile day mixed, although most eventually closed higher. Telmex ADRs ended up 1/8 at 32-7/8 while in Mexico its A shares shed 0.39 percent and its L shares were off 0.19 percent.

Of 101 issues changing hands, gainers outpaced decliners 46-34 with 21 unchanged.

Financial groups, hit by the news of a 10.5 percent fall in GDP for the second quarter which raised concerns about bank portfolio quality, took the biggest beating. Abaco B shares fell 10.92 percent, Bancrecer BCP shared were off 7.0 percent and Banorte B shares fell 5.85 percent.

The 20-share INMEX index ended 0.28 point higher at 168.96.-Reuter