Shares in Mexico's Elektra surge after derivatives move

MEXICO CITY | Tue Jun 19, 2012 12:04pm EDT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Shares of Mexican retailer Elektra surged on Tuesday after the company said it closed some derivatives positions in a move that could help it hold onto a place in the country's benchmark index, traders said.

Shares in Elektra (ELEKTRA.MX), owned by retail and broadcast mogul Ricardo Salinas, jumped 13 percent to 462.03 pesos.

The company's shares have slumped since April on concerns that it could be stripped from Mexico's benchmark IPC stock index .MXX when new rules take effect later this year.

The move to close out some of its derivatives contracts would increase the number of Elektra shares that are available to be freely traded on the market and help it meet the exchange's new rules, traders said.

"The most important thing is they will definitely not be out of the index with this," said Jaime Martinez, a trader at brokerage Actinver in Mexico City.

Mexico's stock exchange in April issued rules that are beefing up float and liquidity requirements. The changes were seen endangering Elektra's weight and possibly position in the index.

A large chunk of Elektra's shares are held by Salinas and his family.

Last year, Elektra stock soared 165 percent in the biggest jump of any company in Brazil, Mexico or Argentina. Investors said the IPC's existing methodology made Elektra too heavily weighted without reflecting the scarcity of its shares.

Salinas enjoyed the largest increase in wealth on Forbes magazine's list of world billionaires published in March, largely driven by Elektra's jump in value last year.

(Reporting by Rachel Uranga; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

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