EMERGING MARKETS-Mexican stocks at new high on U.S. jobless data

* U.S. jobless rate falls unexpectedly, boosting outlook
* Mexico IPC rises 0.8 pct to all-time intraday high
* Brazil Bovespa gains 1.2 pct, driven by homebuilders

By Danielle Assalve
SAO PAULO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Mexican stocks rose to an
all-time high on Friday after the U.S. unemployment rate hit a
nearly four-year low, boosting prospects for growth in the
world's largest economy.
The MSCI Latin American stock index rose 1.0
percent, on track for its biggest gain in three weeks.
Mexico's benchmark IPC index gained 0.8 percent to
pass a previous intraday record set July 27, as the outlook for
Mexican exports improved with the encouraging unemployment data
from its northern neighbor.
Cement maker Cemex led gains on the index with a
2.8 percent rise. Shares of phone company America Movil
, controlled by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, rose 1.0
percent to a nearly one-month high.
In Brazil, the benchmark Bovespa index rose 1.2
percent, its strongest trading session in three weeks.
"The numbers from the United States are breathing life into
the Bovespa," said Raffi Dokuzian of CGD Securities in Sao
Paulo. "This favors the outlook for exports by Brazilian
companies and helps with asset prices."
Homebuilders posted some of the index's biggest gains after
an increase in the maximum price of homes eligible for the
government's low-income housing program.
"That will help with investors' attitudes on the
construction industry," said analyst Marcos Pereira of the
Votorantim brokerage in Sao Paulo. "It helps in the short run
with slightly better pricing of assets in the sector."
Shares of Cyrela Brazil Realty, the country's
second biggest homebuilder, rose 4.0 percent, while rival
Brookfield Incorporações gained 6.1 percent.
Preferred shares of Vale, the world's largest
iron ore producer and one of the most heavily traded stocks on
the Sao Paulo exchange, rose 1.4 percent.
Vale said it resumed operations early on Friday along the
railway to its Carajas mine, which produces a tenth of the
world's iron ore exports. Vale secured a judicial order on
Wednesday to clear an indigenous protest blocking the railroad.
Shares of oil company OGX, controlled by
billionaire Eike Batista, rose 1.6 percent after the company got
an environmental license to drill in two offshore exploration
areas in Brazil's Campos basin.

Latin America's key stock indexes at 1506 GMT:

Stock indexes daily % YTD %
Latest change change
MSCI LatAm 3,740.85 0.97 2.85

Brazil Bovespa 59,213.21 1.29 4.33

Mexico IPC 41,770.47 0.84 12.66

Chile IPSA 4,300.40 0.54 2.94

Chile IGPA 20,863.75 0.49 3.65

Argentina MerVal 2,484.18 0.59 0.88

Colombia IGBC 14,397.75 0.74 13.68

Peru IGRA 21,754.06 0.34 11.71

Venezuela IBC 391,640.78 4.8 234.63