Buenos Aires, January 8 (NA) – The wholesale dollar accumulated a ten-peso rise during the week amidst a period of exchange rate calm that even made it possible to return a loan to the United States taken to soothe markets before the legislative elections. During the day, the BCRA purchased USD 43 million and accumulated nearly USD 200 million at the start of the year. Reserves closed the week at USD 44,396 million. The BCRA canceled operations with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Central Bank announced that in December 2025, it canceled operations carried out during the fourth quarter of 2025 with the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the USD 20 billion exchange rate stabilization agreement announced on October 20, 2025, reported the Argentine News Agency. As announced in October 2025, this exchange rate stabilization agreement sets the terms and conditions for bilateral currency swap operations between the two parties. In this scenario, the wholesale dollar rose by $1 this Friday to $1,465, remaining 4.9% below the ceiling of the exchange rate band. Meanwhile, the retail dollar closed at $1,487.59 for sale, while at the National Bank (BNA) it traded at $1,490 for sale, representing a $5 increase from yesterday's close. This way, it extended the Thursday's rally, when this quote rebounded after chaining three consecutive down days at the start of the week. Despite the increases, it closed with a $10 (-0.7%) drop for the week. It almost halved the acceleration of the previous week, when it rose by $22.50 (+1.6%). During this session, the volume traded in the spot market was USD 494 million and in futures USD 420 million. The card or tourist dollar, equivalent to the official retail dollar plus a 30% deductible from Income Tax, stood at $1,937. In the futures market, contracts showed a mixed trend. For the end of January, the market estimates a dollar at $1,486.50. Meanwhile, the Counted with Settlement (CCL) dollar traded at $1,533.81, with a 0.2% rise from the previous session. The MEP dollar, in turn, traded almost stable at $1,494.15. What happened to the blue dollar. In the informal market, the blue dollar fell by $5 to $1,505. Meanwhile, the crypto dollar traded around $1,523.87. On Thursday, the BCRA bought USD 62 million in the official market, equivalent to 12.9% of the volume traded on MAE. In this way, it chained its fourth consecutive day of net purchases, bringing the balance to USD 175 million in the first five business days of January. In parallel, gross reserves increased by USD 541 million to USD 44,780 million, although only USD 38 million are explained by valuation effects.
