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.

A decline in Mexico's IPC accelerated toward the end of the session, leaving the index down 2.4% at 31,364.89, the lowest finish since the start of July.

Brazil's Bovespa fell 1.3% to 65,156.36, its lowest close since mid-July, with only utility stocks as a group ending higher. Power provider Cemig (CIG) led the few advancers on the index, as its shares rose 2.9%.

Argentina's Merval slumped 3.2% to 2,293.29, with none of its 15 components posting gains. Shares of Tenaris (TS), which makes steel tubes used by the oil industry, fell 2.6%, while steel producer Siderar (ERAR.BA) shares fell 1%, and auto-parts manufacturer Mirgor dropped 4%.

Regional stocks fell alongside stocks on 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 the biggest 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) closed down 1.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) lost 134 points, or 1.3%, to 10,040.45.

Mexico, in particular has significant exposure to the U.S. market as the U.S. is Mexico's largest trading partner. Mexico's peso (CUR_USDMXN) also fell following the home-sales data, but later came off session lows in which the U.S. dollar rose above 13 pesos. The U.S. dollar traded at 12.953 pesos, up from 12.917 pesos on Monday.

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 5.6% to 10 pesos (77 cents), the lowest level this year.

Market heavyweight America Movil (AMX) shares gave up 3.3%, and fixed-line operator Telmex (TMX) lost 1.4%. Retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico (WMMVY) ended down 0.7%.

The sole advancer on the IPC on Tuesday was stock-exchange operator Bolsa Mexicana de Valores. Its shares rose 0.1%.

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.

Meanwhile, the central bank said consumer prices through mid-August rose 0.16%, below the consensus estimate for a rise of 0.21%. Core prices edged up 0.09%, which was below the estimate for an increase of 0.18%.

However, the lower-than-expected mid-month readings still pushed the annual inflation rate to 3.71% on a year-over-year basis, compared with 3.66% from last month.

Itau Securities said in a note to clients that it, as well as the market, expects inflation to climb to 4.7% year-over-year by the end of this year.

"The advance in inflation will be led by non-core items. Core inflation should remain within the range targeted by the central bank, thanks to the output gap," wrote Itau Securities economist João Pedro Bumachar Resende in a client's note.

Chile currency gains

Chile's IPSA fell 0.4% to 4,506.38, but its currency gained ground following reports that the president of Chile's central bank, Jose De Gregorio, said the Chilean peso's recent advance is a reflection of the country's fundamentals.

The comment came amid market speculation that the central bank may intervene to cool the peso's appreciation. The U.S. dollar traded at 504.10 Chilean pesos, down from 504.45 pesos on Monday.

"It is interesting to see that these comments were made in front of members of Asexma, an organization that groups exporters of manufactured products and services of diverse sectors," Roberto Melzi, an economist with Barclays Capital emerging-markets team, said in a note.

"Thus, while we acknowledge that the central bank may eventually intervene in the [foreign exchange] market, we do not see it there yet."