Global Markets and Economic Update : FOREIGN STOCK MARKETS

Stock index trends in native currencies and in dollars adjusted for currency fluctuations. The dollar-adjusted returns are what U.S. investors would realize.

Source: Morgan Stanley Capital International

MEXICAN STOCKS

* After plummeting 100.4 points Monday on news of peasant riots near the southern border, the Bolsa index rebounded 56.66 points Tuesday to close at 2,558.89. Earlier in the day, sellers had pushed the Bolsa down more than 38 points in a continuation of Monday’s decline.

* While analysts say the peasant revolt doesn’t threaten the stability of the government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, it points up the unevenness of the spread of wealth in Mexico under Salinas’ economic reforms. But few analysts believe the official path of reform will change--thus, international investors aren’t expected to walk away from Mexican stocks for long.

THE BOLSA INDEX, Tuesday closes: 2,558.89

Source: D.A. Campbell

SPOTLIGHT: PANAMA

The economy, in recession in the late 1980s, has shown healthy growth under an austerity program implemented by the government that took over after the United States ousted Gen. Manuel A. Noriega in 1989. But austerity hasn’t put a dent in Panama’s high unemployment and poverty rates.

Sources: Bank of America; World Information Services