LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS: Mexico, Brazil Stocks Fall On U.S. Home-data Slide

By Carla Mozee

Mexican and Brazilian stocks slid Tuesday in broad-based losses after a plunge in U.S. monthly home sales stoked fears that an economic slowdown will reduce demand for goods produced in Latin America.

Mexico's IPC fell 1.4% to 31,709, heading toward its first close below 32,000 points since mid-July.

Brazil's Bovespa fell 0.8% to 65,457, off session lows, but still under pressure as only shares in utilities and home builders notched gains. Power provider Companhia Energetica de Sao Paulo (CESDY) led the few advancers on the index as its shares rose 2.5%.

Also lower, Chile's IPSA fell 0.6% and Argentina's Merval slumped 2% to 2,321, with all of its 15 components in the red. Shares of Tenaris (TS), whose steel tubes are used by the oil industry, fell 1.6%, and steel producer Siderar (ERAR.BA) shares fell 0.8%.

Regional stocks struggled alongside Wall Street after the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing U.S. homes tumbled 27.2% in July, the biggest one-month drop on record. The industry trade group cited the expiration of a federal tax credit aimed at home buyers as largely the reason for the drop.

Existing-home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million in July from 5.26 million the month before. Sales of single-family homes fell to the lowest rate in 15 years.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) fell 1.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) lost 117 points, or 1.2%, to 10,054.

Mexico, in particular has significant exposure to the U.S. market as the U.S. is Mexico's largest trading partner. Mexico's currency (CUR_USDMXN) also fell following the home-sales data, but was off session lows after trading above 13 pesos per dollar. The peso recently traded at 12.926 per U.S. dollar compared with 12.917 on Wednesday.

In trading, shares of Cemex (CX), a top supplier of cement and ready-mix concrete to the U.S. and Europe, led decliners on the IPC as its shares dropped 4.2% to 10.12 pesos (79 cents), the lowest level this year.

Investors in Mexican assets also tracked a report showing the country's trade deficit in July was $1.04 million, according to the Inegi statistics agency. A Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists had expected a deficit of $809 million.

Imports last month rose 26.5% to $24.36 billion from the year-ago period, and exports climbed 29.5% to $23.33 billion. Exports of manufactured products rose 32.1%, led by a 64.5% rise in exports of automobiles.

Mexico sends about 80% of its exports to the U.S.