Mexico peso wobbles on US outlook; stocks rebound

(Recasts; adds trader comment, closing prices)

MEXICO CITY, April 22 (Reuters) - Mexico's peso traded near flat on Wednesday as renewed concerns about the U.S. banking sector offset optimism that the downturn is stabilizing in the United States, Mexico's top trading partner.

The peso MXN= MEX01 firmed 0.1 percent to 13.177 per dollar at the central bank's final 1:30 p.m. local time (1830 GMT) reference, but slipped back to 13.20 per dollar in late afternoon trade.

"We haven't touched bottom yet, but the outlook looks a little more calm," said Omar Martin del Campo, a currency trader at Banco Ve por Mas in Mexico City.

The second straight quarterly loss from Morgan Stanley renewed concerns about the U.S. banking sector. But a broker upgrade of Caterpillar lifted big manufacturers and positive comments from business executives about the state of the global economy offset some pessimism about corporate profits.

Mexico sends around 80 percent of its exports to the United States and its financial markets closely follow the economic outlook of its northern neighbor.

The Mexican currency surged on Tuesday after the central bank held its first auction of credits funded by a swap line with the U.S. Federal Reserve, easing pressure on the exchange market for companies looking to cover short-term dollar debts.

Mexico's peso has rebounded by around 18 percent from a 16-year low hit in March as the country's decision to tap massive credit lines from the Fed and International Monetary Fund increased confidence in the currency.

In debt trading, the government's benchmark 10-year peso bond MX10YT=RR rose 0.421 of a point in price, pushing its yield down 6 basis points to 7.64 percent.

The IPC stock index .MXX rose 1.24 percent to 21,480.01 points as several companies surged back from a steep sell-off on Tuesday.

Stocks slumped on Tuesday in a late-session wave of selling that traders said was caused by a large bank squaring a derivatives position. The bank's trade weighed heaviest on the IPC's less liquid stocks, which snapped back on Wednesday.

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's holding companies Carso Telecom (TELECOMA1.MX) and Grupo Carso (GCARSOA1.MX) both saw sharp rebounds after Tuesday's pounding.

Carso Telecom, which holds stock in fixed line giant Telmex (TELMEXL.MX) (TMX.N), rose 5.07 percent to 48.07 pesos while Grupo Carso, which groups Slim's industrial companies, added 5 percent to 35.75 pesos.

Breadmaker Bimbo (BIMBOA.MX) jumped back 3.83 percent to 62.11 pesos and appliance dealer Elektra (ELEKTRA.MX) recovered 2.56 percent to 583.11 pesos.