By Carla Mozee

Equities across most of Latin America fell Monday, opening the week hurt by persistent fears about debt troubles in the euro zone.

But the major indexes in the region moved off session lows as U.S. stocks late in the session rebounded from sharp losses and posted modest gains. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) rose 0.1% to 1,137 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) picked up 6 points to 10,626.

Brazil's Bovespa finished down 0.9% to 62,866, pulling the index further into negative territory for the year for a loss of more than 8%. At the same time last year, the index tracking Latin America's largest stock market was up 31%.

Argentina's Merval fell 1.2% to 2,219.97 on Monday. Mexico's IPC shed 0.7% to end at 31,580.63.

In Chile, the IPSA turned positive, posting a 0.4% rise to 3,855.38.

Among exchange-traded funds, the iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (EWZ) fell 1.1%. The iShares MSCI Mexico Index Fund (EWW) lost 0.7% and the iShares Chile Investable Market Index (ECH) gave up 1%.

The regional equity markets posted their fourth consecutive loss as investors remained concerned that fiscal deterioration in Europe will hamper global economic recovery efforts. Those fears have prompted investors to flock to the perceived safety of the U.S. dollar, pushing the euro zone's currency to multimonth lows. Latin American currencies have also declined against the dollar in recent sessions.

The dollar index (DXY) edged up to 86.16 on Monday. The index, which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, has gained more than 10% so far this year.

"When U.S. investors buy foreign stocks, mutual funds or ETFs, their returns suffer when overseas currencies fall against the U.S. dollar," wrote Alec Young, international equity strategist at S&P Equity Research Services in a note to clients Monday. "As sovereign credit risk has pressured the euro and other foreign currencies vs. the greenback, negative currency translation has significantly detracted from dollar-denominated foreign equity returns."

In 2009, the weak dollar helped bolster a strong performance among international assets, Young wrote.

Brazil's Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles earlier Monday in New York said that the country is ready to fend off any possible contagion from the fiscal crisis in Europe, noting that it has a high level of foreign-exchange reserves and that it will be prepared to provide liquidity if credit conditions tighten.

"There will a fiscal consolidation in a number of (European) countries which will slow down growth in Europe as a whole," Meirelles said Monday afternoon during a Web cast hosted by Ernst & Young focusing on Brazil's business environment.

"For Brazil, the crisis is good for no one," he said. "It's possible, but very unlikely, this crisis will [have] the same dimension as the [2008 global financial crisis] but...Brazil is prepared to face that."

Industrial, steel and home-building stocks paced the decline in Sao Paulo trading. Shares of chemical products producer Braskem (BAK) were the worst price performers as they fell 8%. The company late last week swung to a quarterly loss of 123 million reals, hurt in part by a decline in Brazil's currency against the greenback.

Market heavyweight Vale (RIO) lost 1.8% and stock in oil giant Petrobras (PBR) fell 0.8%, giving up earlier advances.

Late Friday, Petrobras posted a jump in first-quarter earnings to 7.73 billion reals ($4.25 billion) from 6.29 billion reals in the year-ago period. The company cited higher oil prices and increased output of crude as factors that contributed to the earnings increase. Revenue rose 18% to 50.4 billion reals from 42.6 billion reals.

While investors have been focused on European sovereign debt problems, the first-quarter earnings season in Latin America has nearly reached an end, and actual earnings from 70% of MSCI Latin America Index constituents that have already reported "are coming in slightly disappointing," said broker Deutsche Bank in a report to clients Monday.

Of the companies that have reported, 56% have missed consensus estimates for earnings, and 52% have missed revenue estimates, wrote Frederick Searby, an equity strategist covering Latin America at Deutsche Bank.

Meanwhile, more than 80% of S&P 500 companies that have reported as of last week have beaten consensus estimates, and nearly 70% of Stoxx Europe 600 Index constituents have posted better-than-expected per-share results.

"However, these results must be seen in light of the fact that Latin America led the world in earnings revisions last year and year-to-date, setting the bar quite high," wrote Searby.