2012.05.04 22:37:59 Chile Stocks End Higher, Ignoring Lower US And European Stocks

By Graciela Ibanez Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SANTIAGO (Dow Jones)--Chile's IPSA select stock index closed higher Friday, ignoring U.S. and European stock-market declines. The IPSA ended 0.2% higher at 4529.21, while market volume more than doubled to 131.23 billion Chilean pesos ($271.64 million) from CLP58.47 billion Thursday. As several of the heaviest-weighted shares on the IPSA are also listed in the U.S., the Chilean select index often tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The IPSA also often looks at European stocks for direction, as the euro zone is Chile's second-largest trading partner. Among gainers, fuel and forestry conglomerate Empresas Copec (COPEC.SN) ended 0.8% higher at CLP7,697.60, while retail holding company Cencosud (CENCOSUD.SN) gained 0.7% to close at CLP3,004. Chilean stocks will wait for Monday's release of the central bank's monthly economic-activity index, known as Imacec, for direction. The Imacec probably rose 4% in March from a year earlier, according to a median estimate of eight analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. "If the Imacec figure is below 4%, Chilean stocks will likely fall," said Fernando Barraza, a trader at Molina y Swett. In other local markets, the Chilean peso reversed early gains and closed weaker against the dollar, tracking lower international copper prices and the declining U.S. and European stocks. The peso ended at CLP483.10 against the dollar, versus Wednesday's close of CLP481.90. During the session, the peso traded in a range of CLP480.10 to CLP484. In the fixed-income market, yields on inflation-indexed Chilean central bank bonds, or BCUs, ended lower, tracking U.S. Treasury yields. Investors buy bonds in times of falling stock markets, thus the fixed-income assets' yields' decrease. The yield on five-year BCU bonds closed at 2.41%, down from 2.44% Thursday, while the yield on 10-year BCUs closed at 2.53%, down from 2.55% the previous session. (Peso and bond quotes provided by Valor Futuro newswire.) -By Graciela Ibanez, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-715-8929; graciela.ibanez@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires May 04, 2012 16:37 ET (20:37 GMT)