Chile stocks up eyeing company results, peso down

(Updates with bourse close, fresh quote)

By Alexia Vlahos

SANTIAGO, April 22 (Reuters) - Chilean shares closed firmer on Wednesday, led higher by retail and bank stocks as investors waited to take the pulse of impending local quarterly earnings, while the peso closed weaker, traders said.

The IPSA .IPSA leading share index closed 0.33 percent firmer at 2,676.18 points, preliminary closing data showed, while the all-market IGPA index .IGPA closed 0.29 percent firmer at 12,751.44 points. The bourse is now up 12.6 percent year-to-date.

Wall Street's Dow Jones industrial average .DJI by comparison closed down 1.04 percent as Morgan Stanley (MS.N) posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and slashed its dividend.

"If one looks at the retail shares in recent weeks, there has been plenty of buying and today we saw that buying continue," said Roberto Guzman, head of investment at the FIT Research brokerage in Santiago.

Traders are also waiting for a host of Chilean companies to release first-quarter earnings data over the next six weeks, which will give investors a clearer view of how they are coping with the global crisis.

Soquimich SQM_pb.SN, Chile's leading exporter of fertilizer and the world's biggest producer of iodine and lithium, fell 2.1 percent to 17,690 pesos a share.

Cervezas CCU.SN, Chile's largest brewer, rose 0.79 percent to 3,540 pesos, while industrial conglomerate Copec COP.SN, the most heavily weighted share on the bourse, rose 1.18 percent to 5,847.60 pesos.

Banco de Chile CHI.SN, Chile's second biggest bank, rose 0.39 percent to 33.80 pesos, while leading private bank Santander Chile STG.SN rose 1.07 percent to 20.77 pesos a share.

Cencosud CEN.SN, one of Latin America's biggest retailers, rose 2.49 percent to 1,147.90 pesos a share, while retailer Falabella FAL.SN rose 0.65 percent to 1,985 pesos.

Shares of regional energy group Enersis ENE.SN fell 0.14 percent to 176.73 pesos a share, while electricity generator Endesa Chile END.SN fell 0.27 percent to 742 pesos.

The peso CLP=CL closed 0.26 percent weaker at 583.80/584.10 per dollar compared with Tuesday's close at 582.30/582.60.

"The global markets have been volatile, which creates uncertainty so investors become cautious and seek refuge in the dollar," said one currency dealer.

The peso is now up 9.8 percent against the dollar for the year-to-date, after depreciating 22.3 percent in 2008.