Chile stocks decline, peso edges up to new high

SANTIAGO, March 4 (Reuters) - Chilean stocks slumped in afternoon trade on Tuesday as world markets tracked declines on Wall Street led by financial and technology stocks.

The peso, which has seen strong advances since December, edged up to a fifth consecutive nine-year high against the slumping dollar.

The all-market IGPA index .IGPA fell for a fourth straight session, trading 1.23 percent lower at 12,879 points, while the blue-chip IPSA index .IPSA fell 1.64 percent to 2,746 points.

"What's setting the pace is international pessimism. We're just following the trend," said Elizabeth Palma, an analyst with the Tanner brokerage. "The low trade amounts reflect investor caution."

"On top of that, Chile ended its earnings season without any positive surprises and pretty much in line with expectations, so that didn't seem to provoke any reaction except to sell."

On the Santiago exchange not a single blue-chip issue traded in positive territory on Tuesday afternoon. Six were unchanged, and the remaining 34 stocks were down.

Endesa Spain's regional electric utilities Enersis ENE.SN and Endesa Chile END.SN, which account for 15 percent of the value-weighted IPSA, fell 2.15 percent and 2.42 percent, respectively.

Retailers were among the session's biggest declines, as leading domestic supermarket D&S DIS.SN and diversified regional retailer Falabella FAL.SN fell 3.62 percent and 2.86 percent.

The companies said on Monday they decided not to pursue their planned merger after Chile's anti-trust tribunal nixed the deal in late January.