On the first business day of 2023, the blue dollar started to fall, but eventually recovered and closed at $346, the same price on the last day last year. On a day of low market activity due to the US holiday, financial dollars were slow: the MEP rose 0.4% and closed at $329.2, while cash with cash increased 0.2%, to $ 344.8.
In the last few days of last year, blue had reached $359, in what was the highest nominal price yet. It reached that peak in the heat of two factors. First an increase in demand driven by those who go on holiday outside the country and choose to take the green banknotes because the price of the informal is 24 pesos lower than that of the Qatari dollar, today in $370.
This has been combined with a reduction in supply by the less willingness of tourists to sell their currencies in the informal market, as they now turn to the preferential exchange which allows foreigners to pay by card and be settled at the value of the MEP dollar instead of doing so at the official retail dollar, today $185.
Less supply coupled with more demand drove last week’s increase as well infected the financial dollarswho grew up amid renewed political uncertainty following the government’s escalating assault on the Supreme Court.
But towards the end of the week, the parallel dollars began to recede into what was interpreted by the government as the end of a “speculative” movement.“Despite the decline of this wheel, the official dispatches do not exclude that the tension on the blue dollar will continue also in January due to the greater demand for the holidays.
After the end of the soybean dollar – only a few remnants of last week’s operations were settled at this Monday’s meeting – the Central Bank started the year with Neutral equilibrium in the single and free foreign exchange market.
With the second edition of the soy dollar, foreign currency entered $3,154 million. This allowed the Central Bank to accumulate purchases in December for 1,987 million dollars and throughout 2022 US$5,824 million, thereby surpassing the 2021 threshold of $300 million.
Wholesale Dollar started in January $177.95/178.15 per unit, ninety-nine cents above last Friday’s close. “Today’s wholesale exchange rate correction compensated, as at every start of the week, for days without activity over the weekend,” said trader Gustavo Quintana.
On a day when there were no markets in the United States due to the holidays, while in Brazil the stock market fell 3% after taking over Lula as president, Merval starts 2023 up 2.5%. The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange had an extraordinary performance in 2022, with a 142% rally for Merval and returns of more than 300% in pesos in energy companies.
“In this session, the local market once again presented the main stocks that continue to register profits. The ones that achieved the greatest percentage difference were Edenor, Transportadora Gas del Norte, Transener and YPF”, said Fernando Staropoli, account executive of Rava Bursátil.
On a low volume day, Argentine dollar bonds rose. The AL41 stood out with an increase of 2.2%. At the end of 2022, Argentine stocks showed some recovery, even though they ended the year down 20%.
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Source: Clarin
