The peso closed in Mexico City at 16.12 against the dollar, according to Infosel, compared with 16.27 at the close Thursday.
The Mexican currency bounced back from historic lows after Mexico's exchange commission announced Thursday it is increasing the amount of dollars to be sold at auctions to address continued exchange-market volatility. It is now selling $200 million each day, up from $52 million.
On Friday, Bank of Mexico's Agustin Carstens reinforced the bank's commitment to stem the peso's rout by saying that interest rates could go up "if necessary, at any moment".
"If the peso needs higher rates, we can raise rates, independently of what the U.S. Federal Reserve does," said Mr. Carstens in a radio interview. So far, policy makers had ruled out hike rates before the Fed. On Thursday, the central bank left the overnight interest rate unchanged at 3%, citing sluggish economic growth and low inflation.
Many analysts see the dollar auctions just as a temporary relief for the peso. "Given the high volume of activity in the dollar-peso market, around $135 billion per day, the measures announced shouldn't have a significant impact on the exchange rate. The goal of the auctions is preventive," said BBVA analysts.
The IPC index of leading issues closed up 0.8% at 44752 points on volume of 280 million shares worth 8.6 billion pesos ($538 million).
Bellwether America Movil gained 2.7% to 15.67 pesos, while Mexican corn miller and tortilla maker Gruma closed up 1.5% to 211.11 pesos.
Among a handful of winners, Mexico's industrial conglomerate Alfa fell 0.2% to 32.02 pesos.
Write to Juan Montes at juan.montes@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 31, 2015 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)
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