As the political crisis worsens after the setback of the Omnibus Law in Congress and the tension between the National Government and governors, Argentine assets turn red. After the decline seen on Wednesday, both stocks and bonds remained in negative territory. The Merval index fell by 3.5% and country risk increased again.
On the foreign exchange market, parallel dollars were less in demand, especially after the various public statements by the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, on the near future of the economy.
On the road, blue lost $25 and is back at $1,145; while the prices obtained on the stock market also followed a downward trend. The MEP dollar fell 1.3% and closed at $1,183; while liquidity, the method used by companies to materialize, fell 1.4% and settled at $1,246. In this way the ticket remains the cheapest “free” quote.
On Wednesday in the city they stressed that the reaction of financial dollars to the withdrawal of the Bases Act had been “moderate”. “This dynamic seems to confirm it in the short term the gap appears to have reached an equilibrium level of around 50%which seems to constitute the “center of gravity” of the current macrofinancial situation”, they indicated in Delphos.
The market closely follows the Central Bank’s ability to purchase dollars to replenish its reserves and signs of updating the daily devaluation rate.
The organization made a new round of purchases and retained another $99 million thanks to its interventions in the foreign exchange market. In this way since the beginning of the month it has already accumulated purchases for 603 million dollars. “February looks like a positive month for the Central Bank, but to a lesser extent due to increased importer activity,” they warned on Delphos.
However, these purchases do not translate directly into central coffers. Since last Thursday, BCR reserves have lost $1.2 billion. This Thursday they fell by $35 million and closed at $26,446, in a wheel in which both the yuan and gold moved lower. So far this month they have fallen mainly due to debt payments.
The lack of political definition of the direction of the economy has a greater impact on the price of shares, which in the first month of the year were presented as an anti-inflationary haven. The Merval index closed in the red for the fourth consecutive round and all listed companies closed with negative results.
In this sense, sovereign bonds closed lower along the entire curve.
Source: Clarin
