Mexican stocks finish at record high

Mexican stocks ended at a record high on Friday, boosted late in the day by a rally in cell phone operator America Movil, while the peso gained after foreign reserves hit a record high earlier this week.
Shares of America Movil, Latin America's largest wireless telecom and the most heavily-weighted company in the IPC index, jumped 1.88 percent late in the day to end at 19.54 pesos.
Traders said America Movil's stock was benefiting from speculation that Britain's Vodafone Group may be preparing to bid for US cell phone operator AT&T Wireless.
America Movil's New York-traded shares jumped 2.23 percent to $35.78.
The IPC benchmark stock index ended 0.23 percent stronger at 9,982.87 points, its highest ever closing level, boosted in large part by the gain in America Movil, traders said.
Traders also said investors remained encouraged following news this week that Mexico's industrial output rose 2.4 percent in December.
In currency markets, the peso gained 0.28 percent to 10.94 per dollar.
Shares of the debt-ridden steel maker Hylsamex, in the process of being spun off from parent conglomerate Alfa, surged 12.19 percent to 7.64 pesos, amid what appeared to be heavy buying by one investor.
"It's one client," said a trader at one of the three brokerages doing most of the buying.
Parent company Alfa said in January it would spin off Hylsamex, which has suffered from years of weak steel prices, in a move to improve its debt structure.
Financial group BBVA-Bancomer's stock edged 3 centavos higher to 11.78 pesos after Finance Minister Francisco Gil said he approved of Spanish bank BBVA's offer for the Mexican financial group.
The finance ministry's approval of the deal "shouldn't take too long," Gil told Reuters on Friday. "We're just looking at some of the details. It's completely mechanical."
BBVA's offer for BBVA-Bancomer is equivalent to 12 pesos per share.
The gap between the current price and the offer price is due to minor uncertainties that the deal might not go through, traders said. But with many analysts recommending that shareholders accept the offer, its success is likely, most traders agreed.
The stock price's current discount to the offer price "is free money," one trader said.