Mexico stocks open flat; peso firms slightly

MEXICO CITY, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Mexican stocks traded near flat on Wednesday as worries persisted about the health of the global economy, while the peso strengthened slightly for the first time in five sessions.

The IPC benchmark index .MXX was up 0.07 percent at 26,540 points, with airport operator Asur (ASURB.MX) among the top gainers, up 3.88 percent to 52 pesos.

Mexico will allow Asur to bid in an upcoming tender to build and run a new airport in the Riviera Maya, a senior transport ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday.

There had been doubts about whether the government would allow Asur to bid in the tender on competition grounds because it already runs airports in southern Mexico, including one at the Caribbean resort of Cancun, just north of the less-developed Riviera Maya coast.

Asur has long said it wanted to be able to bid because a Riviera Maya airport is seen taking some traffic and profits away from Cancun, its top terminal.

Mexico's currency MXN= MEX01 gained 0.05 percent to 10.3700 per dollar. The peso has weakened in the previous four sessions as investors bet the central bank will not raise interest rates again this year.

Central bank chief Guillermo Ortiz last week said that the country is seeing an end to a recent inflation spike caused by surging international food and energy prices.

Ortiz's comments have fueled speculation that the central bank could lower rates next year, and that sentiment has weighed on the currency.

Leading cell phone company America Movil, controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, (AMXL.MX) fell 0.98 percent to 26.34 pesos, while its New York-traded shares (AMX.N) dropped 1.36 percent to $50.69.

Blue-chip fixed-line telephone firm Telmex (TELMEXL.MX), also controlled by Slim, rose 0.08 percent to 12.87 pesos.

In debt trading, the government's benchmark 10-year peso bond MX10YT=RR rose 0.063 of a point in price to 95.936, pushing its yield down 1 basis point to bid 8.38 percent. (Reporting by Lizbeth Salazar)