The leading stocks of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange concluded January with a slight gain of 1.2% in pesos, while the country risk decreased without exceeding 600 points. The S&P Merval closed lower this Friday, the last day of January, but managed to maintain small gains throughout the month, mainly driven by the performance of banks.
Regarding market movements, it was observed that the leading stocks mostly experienced losses, with Metrogas having the highest increase (+4.6%), followed by Transportadora de Gas del Sur (-3.4%) and Telecom (-3.3%). Investors continue to pay attention to the Central Bank's rate reduction, which went from 32% to 29% annually, as well as the cut in the depreciation of the peso, which will decrease from 2% to 1% monthly starting next Monday.
Market attention is also focused on the prospect of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund that could imply a new exchange rate scheme, although for now the capital controls have not been lifted. In this context, financial sector stocks continued to lead the rises in the S&P Merval, benefiting from exchange stability and the deceleration of inflation, favorable for companies in the sector.
In January, the most prominent companies in the local market were BBVA bank (BBAR), with an increase of 16.4%, followed by Grupo Supervielle (SUPV) with an advance of 11.1%, and in third place Grupo Financiero Galicia (GGAL) which recorded a rise of 8.7%. On the other hand, in the fixed income segment, dollar bonds closed mixed in January, with notable declines such as those of Global 2041 and Global 2038, both with a decrease of 1%, while Bonar 2035 rose by 2%.
These movements led the country risk to stand at 623 basis points, with a daily increase of 1.5% and a monthly decrease of 1.9%, while the long-term segment of the curve yields about 10.5% annually.
