U.S. Rise Helps Boost Stocks
March 29, 2011
Analysts say the market's upward move probably won't last long as the impact of tax and benefit measures announced last week has been largely absorbed into share prices. Many analysts see the measures eroding both consumer purchasing power and corporate profits over the short term. The Merval Index of leading shares rose 9 points to 552.27, after declining 2.48 Tuesday. The broad General Index gained 122.57 to 16753.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 18.12 points higher Wednesday. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 38 to 12, with 10 settling the session unchanged. Volume on the floor totaled 14.10 million pesos while turnover on the computer-based continuous market reached 81.02 million pesos. Phone companies, which normally see most of their trading done on U.S. exchanges, put in relatively active local performances Wednesday. Telefonica was the session's most active issue, dropping 1 cent to 2.50 pesos. Telecom fell 3 cents to 3.99 pesos. Energy issues had a mixed day. Astra rose 6 cents to 2.21 pesos and Perez Companc added 14 cents to 6.22 pesos. YPF shed 5 cents to 21.35 pesos. Hutchings was the biggest gainer among active issues. The food processor rose 13 cents to 3.20 pesos. Auto maker Ciadea gained 20 cents to 6.10 pesos. Competitor Sevel ended the session unchanged at 2.40 pesos.
