Mexican stocks sink further after Fed minutes
(Recasts; adds detail on Fed minutes, background)
MEXICO CITY, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Mexican stocks extended steep losses on Tuesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting raised fears of slower growth in the United States, Mexico's top trading partner.
The benchmark IPC stock index .MXX fell 1.79 percent to 25,944 after briefly falling more than 2 percent and was headed for its lowest close in seven months, dragged down by losses in cell phone operator America Movil and cement maker Cemex.
The peso MXN= MEX01 weakened 0.32 percent to 10.1680 per dollar after weak German growth data fueled expectations of interest rate cuts in Europe, boosting the dollar.
Minutes released on Tuesday from the Aug. 5 meeting of U.S. Federal Reserve policy makers showed members were concerned the U.S. economy faced risks that growth could slow even further.
About 80 percent of Mexico's exports go to the United States and the Mexican government expects the U.S. slowdown will chill economic growth this year to 2.8 percent from 3.2 percent in 2007.
In stock trading, shares of America Movil (AMXL.MX) lost 1.97 percent to 25.36 pesos while its New York-traded stock (AMX.N) shed 2.23 percent to $49.88.
Morgan Stanley on Tuesday cut its price target for America Movil's New York shares to $68 from $84.
Shares of Cemex (CMXCPO.MX), the largest supplier of cement to the U.S. market, lost 3.16 percent to 19.90 pesos while its stock on Wall Street (CX.N) fell 3.26 percent to $19.61. (Reporting by Michael O'Boyle and Tomas Sarmiento; Editing by James Dalgleish)
