Latam stocks log worst quarter in year

SAO PAULO/MEXICO CITY: Latin American equities rose on Thursday as Greece's debt crisis appeared to find a short-term solution, but stocks recorded their worst quarter in a year as investors remained uncertain about the world economy.

The MSCI Latin American index rose 0.83 percent. But for the quarter, it fell 3.66 percent, putting it down 3.27 percent for the year.

The Greek parliament approved detailed austerity and privatization bills in a crucial vote to secure emergency funds and avert debt default, but longer-term dangers still lurked.

"The approval of the (Greek) package took some weight off the market," said Guilherme Sand, a fund manager with brokerage Solidus in Brazil, who helps oversee about $570 million in assets.

But the euro zone worries that have battered markets in the first half of 2011 will extend into the second half, he said.

"And there'll be a question around whether China can continue growing" in a robust and sustainable way, he added. China is a major consumer of Latin American commodity exports.

Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index added 0.11 percent. The Bovespa was off 9.02 percent for the quarter.

After a lackluster gain of 1 percent last year, the Bovespa is down almost 10 percent this year.

Shares of retailer Grupo Pao de Acucar rose 1.62 percent during a volatile week after a controversial investor buyout proposal.

Gains by oil giant Petrobras, which added 1.45 percent, and miner Vale, up 0.71 percent, were offset by drops in real estate shares, hurt by fears that Brazil's central bank could raise interest rates.

"Rate hikes are not good for this sector", said Pedro Galdi, chief analyst of SLW brokerage.

Homebuilders PDG Realty, Brookfield, and Gafisa led losses in the session, shedding 1.9 percent, 3.06 percent and 1.98 percent respectively.

Mexico's IPC index dipped 0.06 percent, with a 1.35 percent drop by broadcaster Televisa offsetting an 8.59 percent gain by bottler Arca.

The index lost 2.36 percent in the quarter, adding to losses in the first three months of the year for a drop of 5.17 percent in the first half.

"The fact the year has brought losses is due to all the problems we've seen since the start of the second quarter," said Gerardo Copca, a strategist at Metanalisis consultancy in Mexico City. He pointed to the United States' economic woes, Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, the Middle East's continued unrest and Greece's debt mess.

Chile's IPSA gained 0.5 percent as shares of forestry company CMPC led gains, up 2.1 percent.

Chilean stocks outperformed regional peers for the quarter, rising 3.69 percent in the last three months but still down 2.68 percent on the year.

"In the first quarter there was heavy profit-taking due to the big year we had in 2010," said Ximena Garcia, an analyst at brokerage EuroAmerica, adding that investors repositioned in the second quarter due to greater confidence in the market.

Copyright Reuters, 2011