Argentine ADRs tumble after central bank chief replaced

Outgoing central bank head Juan Carlos Fabrega, at odds with economy minister Axel Kicillof, was replaced with a regulator seen as sympathetic to government intervention.

Bank stocks were among the worst hit, with ADRs of Banco Macro down 6.1 percent and BBVA Banco Frances down 6.8 percent.

To Wednesday's close, both ADRs were up 59.5 percent and 76.9 percent year-to-date, respectively.

Argentina's benchmark <.MERV> was down more than 8 percent on the day, but with a gain of more than 100 percent so far this year, it continued to be one of the best performing markets worldwide for 2014.

Other Argentine stocks falling sharply on Wall Street included Petrobras Argentina , down 5.2 percent, and Edenor , off 4.3 percent.

The Bank of New York Mellon index of Argentine ADRs <.BKAR> fell 3.8 percent on the day.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, major indexes were edging higher in a volatile session, while small caps rallied, after the S&P 500 earlier fell to its lowest level in nearly two months.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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