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Non-Tech : TMX ready to take-off? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: md1derful who wrote (58)	5/2/1999 11:34:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 92

Telmex stock jumps with rate settlement expected Reuters, Friday, April 30, 1999 at 14:19 MEXICO CITY, April 30 (Reuters) - Shares of Telefonos de Mexico jumped on Friday amid expectations that Mexico's dominant telephone company would soon get a windfall by finally agreeing to rates to complete calls for major U.S. carriers, traders said. Traders said Mexico's robust economic outlook also fueled demand for Telmex stock in both Mexico City and on Wall Street. Telmex American Depositary Receipts shares were up $3.375 to $77.25 on the New York Stock Exchange, after touching an all-time high of $78.19 earlier in the session. By midafternoon, volume had already reached 1.3 million shares, compared with a daily average of about 1.1 million. In Mexico, L shares (MEX:TELMEXL) of the telephone company had gained 1.55 pesos to 35.70 pesos with brisk volume of 8.7 million shares. "What is helping Telmex is the announcement that they will receive extraordinary income from settlement rates," said Gerardo Copca, head of investment fund management at Mexico City's Valores Finamex brokerage. Settlement rates are the fees that Telmex charges to foreign telephone operators such as AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T) and MCI WorldCom Inc. (NASDAQ:WCOM) to connect calls in Mexico through its huge domestic network. The companies have been at odds over the tariffs, and AT&T and MCI WorldCom both owe Telmex more than a year's worth of payments. Telmex "has already said it will charge a 25-cents (per minute) fee to their competitors during the current year," Copca said. "That will result in an extraordinary income for the second quarter." In mid-March, Telmex, AT&T and MCI WorldCom said they had reached a preliminary accord on a charge of 25 cents for every inbound minute. Previously, Telmex had wanted to charge 34.5 cents per minute for 1999. During the dispute, the U.S. carriers have reportedly been paying a nominal 19 cents a minute. Still, no deal has yet been signed. An AT&T spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday that negotiations with Telmex were still going on and a final agreement could be announced in two weeks. According to some traders, another factor boosting Telmex's shares was the country's solid economic outlook and the peso's firmness. The benchmark 48-hour peso was up 1.9 centavos to 9.2500/9.2590 per dollar in midday trade on Friday. "The peso strength is also lifting Telmex's valuation in dollar terms," said one trader. Telmex, which accounts for about a third of IPC index of leading shares in Mexico, also pushed the Mexican stock market higher. On Friday, the IPC share index <.MXX> was up 89 points, or 1.6 percent, to 5605 points. mexicocity.newsroom@reuters.com)) Copyright 1999, Reuters News Service