Category: Equity

Mexican chemical manufacturer Mexichem has made a public offering of 97.7 million shares worth $122.1 million via the Mexican Stock Exchange. The funds raised will be used to invest in strategic projects, said the company.

Colombian markets climbed after a Constitutional Court ruling opened the way for President Alvaro Uribe to run for a second four-year term in 2006. The IGBC stock index opened with a 3% rally but profit-taking quickly drove prices down. The IGBC closed up 1.13% for the day. Yields on the government’s benchmark 2014 bond opened at 8.32%, close to a historic low, but picked up to end the day at 8.67%. Merrill Lynch raised its recommendation on Colombian debt to market weight from underweight.

Carso Infraestructura y Construcción (Cicsa), one of Mexican magnate Carlos Slim’s companies, is to float around 25% of the company’s capital on the Mexican Stock Exchange before the end of October. The company hopes to raise up to $400 million through the IPO of 620 million shares. Slim’s companies now comprise over 43% of Mexico’s principal stock index, the IPC. The tycoon’s companies cover a range of industries and include telephone carrier Telmex, cell phone operator América Móvil, conglomerate Grupo Carso and most recently listed infrastructure company IDEAL.

Spain’s Santander Central Hispano (SCH) has listed on the Mexican market, in a bid to diversify its shareholder base. SCH’s shares were listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange on Wednesday at 140 pesos a share and closed the day at 139.37 pesos with 420,000 shares traded. Santander’s shares are currently listed on the exchanges in London, New York, Madrid, Milan, Lisbon and Buenos Aires.

Chilean industrial conglomerate Sigdo Koppers is to float on the Chilean Stock Exchange on 19 October, the company announced. The IPO for 25% of the company’s stock aims to raise around $280 million to help planned investments of around $560 million over the next five years.

Mexico’s Stock Exchange BMV has announced that from Thursday it will be offering investors a new instrument, linked to the price of Brent oil in London. The latest securities to be listed on the Mexican market will allow investors to buy into the oil market without taking physical delivery of the commodity.

Shares of Ideal an infrastructure development company created by Carlos Slim, the Mexican tycoon, rose 14% to 6.59 pesos in the first day of trading. Ideal will invest in roads, ports, water and energy projects as well as public-private partnerships in education and health in Latin America. Ideal has a portfolio of $1.11 billion in Mexican infrastructure assets

Brazil’s annual inflation rate dropped to 6.02 percent in the 12 months through August, according to the government´s benchmark IPCA consumer price index. The index was 6.57 percent in July and reached a 16-month high of 8.07 percent in April. Central bankers have left their benchmark interest rate at 19.75 percent for the past three months after nine increases in nine months.

Brazilian financial assets fell significantly as media speculation increased over the involvement of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s in an unfolding corruption scandal. Stock prices fell 3.3% and the real lost 3.5% against the US dollar. Until now, the political funding scandal had not affected Lula’s popularity or hurt financial markets.