Chile retailers lead stocks higher, peso eases

SANTIAGO, July 22 (Reuters) - Chilean retailers led stocks higher in late trade on Tuesday, as U.S. stocks rose and oil prices moderated.

The peso eased from the prior session's near five-week high against the dollar in thin volume trade.

The all-market IGPA index .IGPA rose 0.65 percent to 13,776.98 points, while the blue-chip IPSA .IPSA advanced 0.89 percent to 2,851.56 points.

"We started out slow but things bounced back in late trade because of the rise on Wall Street, falling oil prices and improved earnings expectations," said Marcelo Ogaz, an analyst with the BICE brokerage. "Retail is strong because of expectations for lower inflation."

Ogaz said lower government bond yields, especially in longer maturities, were implying lower inflation. Ten-year inflation adjusted bond yields CLBCU10Y=RR closed at 3.32 percent on Tuesday after touching 3.7 percent in late June.

Regional diversified retailers Falabella FAL.SN and Cencosud CEN.SN, with a combined weight of about 12 percent of the IPSA, surged 6.31 percent and 5.47 percent, respectively. Last week both retailers had extended losses for the month to nearly 15 percent.

Department store retailers Ripley RIP.SN and La Polar LAP.SN also contributed with advances of 2.7 percent and 7.13 percent.

Shares of LAN Airlines LAN.SN (LFL.N) jumped 4.89 percent, as U.S. crude oil futures dropped on receding storm worries and pressured by a firmer dollar.

Endesa Spain investment group Enersis ENE.SN weighed in with a gain of 2.09 percent in late trade.

Loss leaders included iron ore miner CAP CAP.SN, down 2.43 percent, and leading fertilizer exporter SQM SQM_pb.SN, sliding 3.31 percent. CAP has gained more than 30 percent for the year-to-date, while SQM has more than doubled on the outlook for higher world prices.

The all-market index is down 5.9 percent for the month and has slipped 2.1 percent year to date.

A few of Chile's publicly traded companies are scheduled to begin reporting financial results this week.

The peso CHILJ CLP=CL closed 0.45 percent lower at 492.50/493.00 per dollar compared with Monday's close at 490.30/490.80.

The central bank continued with its daily purchase of $50 million as part of an $8 billion currency intervention begun in April after the dollar fell to around 430 per dollar. The dollar peaked briefly above 530 pesos at the end of June. (Reporting by Lisa Yulkowski; Editing by Leslie Adler)