U.S., Mexico Report Progress on Rescue Plan as Peso Weakens : Money: The Mexican currency closes at more than six to the dollar for first time since Clinton announced his package.

In a bid to calm Mexico’s turbulent financial markets, the top fiscal officials of the United States and Mexico emerged from a meeting Thursday to declare that they are making progress in working out details of the $50-billion package to support the peso.

The statement had limited impact on investors, however. Continued uncertainty weakened the peso to more than six to the dollar for the first time since President Clinton announced the international rescue plan Jan. 31.

The peso closed at 6.09 to the dollar--compared to 5.965 on Wednesday--the weakest peso since it closed at 6.3 on Jan. 30. The peso’s value is down 43% since Dec. 20, when the Mexican government abruptly reversed its policy of defending the currency’s value.

Mexican stocks, after plunging more than 6% on Wednesday, rebounded slightly, with the main index rising 33.50 points, or 1.86%, to close at 1,822.18. Share prices rebounded from an early 3.5% plunge after the central bank announced plans to buy back $2 billion worth of dollar-indexed tesobonos and several Mexican companies announced they would meet their debt payments, said David Rosen, an analyst at Dillon, Read & Co.

Wednesday’s financial nose dive prompted Mexican Finance Minister Guillermo Ortiz to request a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin to hasten the wrap-up of the complex aid package and extract a public statement of confidence.

“We’re working very constructively together on a very complex situation,” Rubin said as he posed for photographers with Ortiz, who added, “We’re working well.”

Rubin and Ortiz met to negotiate Washington’s offer of $20 billion in U.S. financial support, the key ingredient in the international package.

In a related development, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board announced support for Mexico’s plan to restructure $2 billion in debt by redeeming short-term securities with funds from U.S. and International Monetary Fund credit lines.

“The Mexican authorities have consulted with us on their plan for early redemption of up to $2 billion” in the securities, the Treasury Department said. “The Treasury and the Federal Reserve endorse this use of part of the resources that were provided to Mexico earlier.”

White House spokesman Mike McCurry said, “We believe we are continuing to make good progress with Mexican authorities to implement the measures that have been previously announced.”

Mexican stocks were battered Wednesday after Guadalajara-based Grupo Sidek, a tourism and steel conglomerate, said it would default on $19.5 million in dollar-denominated debt payments.

Analysts feared that other companies might be facing the same problems as a result of the devaluation of the peso that started Dec. 20, when the government announced it could no longer support the currency.

Stock prices throughout the rest of Latin America have slumped along with Mexico’s in a replay of the near-meltdown of the market that occurred late last month and forced Clinton to hurriedly announce the U.S. aid. Argentine stocks plummeted Thursday to a two-year low.