Argentina’s main index registers its second consecutive rise driven by banks

In the Argentine market, the stocks showing the highest gains are BBVA (+7.5%), Grupo Supervielle (+3.3%), and Grupo Financiero Galicia (+2.6%).

On Thursday, March 7th, the S&P Merval index marks its second consecutive rise due to selective purchases among higher liquidity stocks, amid a market focused on political issues and the unusual drop of the dollar, which fell below $1,000 in the previous session. With the boost from the rebound of blue chip swap operations, the leading index of BYMA advances by 0.9% to 1,008,538.15 points.

In the Argentina market, the stocks showing the highest gains are BBVA (+7.5%), Grupo Supervielle (+3.3%), and Grupo Financiero Galicia (+2.6%).

On the other hand, the stocks experiencing the biggest declines are Transener (-3.5%), Edenor (-2.8%), and Telecom (-2.9%).

The government of Argentina, led by Javier Milei, has called for dialogue with governors from the interior amid public spending cuts, aiming to advance economic deregulation in exchange for new laws approved by Congress.

Meanwhile, the dollar is trading at nearly three-month lows due to the monetary contraction encouraged by the Central Bank (BCRA) to tackle inflation, prompting currency sales.

Amid the arrival of corporate earnings reports, YPF – controlled by the State – reported a net loss of $1.86 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, attributed to a significant charge related to the deterioration of its conventional field portfolio. Consequently, its stocks rose slightly by 0.1% in BYMA but fell by 0.9% on Wall Street.

The described scenario unfolds amid a profound crisis in Argentina, where the industry reported a 14% decrease in its activity on Wednesday. The significant fiscal contraction will result in a GDP decline of around 4% during 2024.