Argentine Stock Market Slumps 38 Percent After Local Primary Results

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On a day of market jitters following the PASO defeat of the candidate and president Mauricio Macri, the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange’s leading shares collapsed by an average of 11.43 percent around noon, with the S&P Merval indicator at 35,105.44 points.

Argentine bonds fell by as much as 25 percent. Bonar 2020, which expires in October 2020, sold at less than 70 dollars per US$100 bond.

Country risk increased 40 points up to 905 units.

The Merval index plunged to 27,530.80 points, a drop of 37.93 percent, as some significant stocks lost up to 50 percent.

With the results on the table, Argentine companies are suffering. Around noon, the Argentine stock exchange’s overall board showed 52 drops and 13 highs while among the leading stocks all numbers showed red.

Banco Francés recorded the highest drop with a 40 percent loss at the beginning, while Cablevisión holding fell 40 percent and Grupo Financiero Galicia 39 percent.

The downturn of the stock market follows the black Monday in the exchange market where the currency plummeted and traded at 60 pesos per U.S. dollar. The currency’s fall exceeded 28 percent since Friday when it closed at P$46.55 per greenback.

Meanwhile, abroad, Argentine stocks and bonds also suffered a hard blow. In the New York premarket, stock prices are already showing drops of up to 35 percent. At 11.40 AM, however, the situation worsened: the most affected company was Transportadora Gas del Sur, with shares plummeting 54.3 percent; followed by Pampa Energía, with a 43.3 percent collapse.