Key Points
- The peso’s street premium stayed tight, a sign of near-term calm even as financial exits remain pricier.
- The Merval stabilized after profit-taking from a recent record, but liquidity was thin and selective.
- Investors kept one eye on January debt payments and reserve-building promises, and the other on a softer global dollar.
Argentina’s markets slipped into Christmas mode with the peso pinned near 1,450 per dollar and equities inching higher on a two-hour, bank-holiday session — a calm that our reporting has shown rests on Javier Milei’s fiscal squeeze and the US Treasury support package, even as net reserves remain thin.
Trades settle Friday, while funds and official FX desks stayed shut. On screens, 4-hour moves kept snapping back to 1,450, mirroring a flat daily corridor.
The official retail dollar was around 1,475, while the blue rate held near 1,530, leaving a modest gap for a country used to wider stress.
Financial dollars told a sharper story: MEP hovered near 1,486 and CCL near 1,534, underscoring that moving capital through markets still costs more than buying at the window.
That spread matters because the government is about to change how its exchange-rate bands adjust, with inflation indexing set to begin in January. The IMF has pressed for faster reserve accumulation—turning every quiet FX tape into a credibility test.
On stocks, the S&P Merval closed up about 0.2% at 3,121,145 after three straight declines tied to profit-taking from last week’s intraday high.
“The market is closing the year with the calendar and calculator in hand,” a Criteria note warned, pointing to the January 9 bond payment of $4.225 billion and estimating roughly $2.4 billion still needed.
The risk-country gauge held around 575 basis points. Mills Capital Group strategist Emilio Botto summed up the mood: “The market discounts the payment will be made… what isn’t clear is how.”
Top winners (Dec. 24 session): Transener (+1.61%), Loma Negra (+1.52%), Telecom (+1.49%), IRSA’s ADR (+0.5%), and one of the big banks’ ADRs (Galicia/Macro/BBVA, about +0.1%).
Top losers: Aluar (-1.49%), Pampa Energía ADR (-0.7%), YPF ADR (-0.7%), Central Puerto ADR (-0.6%), and Sociedad Comercial del Plata (-0.44%).
Globally, U.S. stocks were steady into the holiday close, while the dollar index drifted near multi-week lows in thin trading. For Argentina, the real test arrives when full liquidity returns.
Live Market IntelligenceArgentina — Live Market Board
Rio Times · Live Market Intelligence
Argentina — Live Market Board
—
169,186.42
-1.06%
69,441.29
+0.37%
10,545.23
-1.24%
2,848,945
—
2,489.93
-0.63%
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MERVAL | 2,848,945 | — | +12.65% | 2,859,051 | — | — | — |
| USD/ARS | 1,537 | -0.28% | +3.77% | 1,541 | 1,541 | 1,537 | — |
| YPF | 8,140 | -1.45% | +67.04% | 8,260 | 8,400 | 8,130 | 1,057,856 |
| GGAL | 5,825 | -2.27% | -17.84% | 5,960 | 6,090 | 5,820 | 1,091,278 |
| PAMPA | 5,035 | -2.04% | +11.33% | 5,140 | 5,225 | 5,025 | 226,261 |
| TXAR | 761.00 | -3.00% | +29.77% | 784.50 | 798.50 | 757.00 | 1,172,882 |
| ALUAR | 855.00 | -1.50% | +5.30% | 868.00 | 910.00 | 854.00 | 265,896 |
| TGS | 8,400 | -4.00% | -6.25% | 8,750 | 8,920 | 8,400 | 71,435 |
| CEPU | 1,920 | -1.39% | -1.35% | 1,947 | 1,999 | 1,909 | 165,948 |
| MIRGOR | 1,775 | -0.56% | -90.15% | 1,785 | 1,805 | 1,735 | 6,214 |
| COME | 35.15 | -1.90% | -14.82% | 35.83 | 35.90 | 35.01 | 2,274,189 |
| LOMA NEGRA | 3,085 | -2.14% | +2.32% | 3,153 | 3,200 | 3,085 | 110,621 |
| BYMA | 237.00 | -1.46% | +5.80% | 240.50 | 246.00 | 236.50 | 687,747 |
| TELECOM ARG | 3,870 | -3.31% | +22.00% | 4,003 | 4,108 | 3,870 | 11,330 |
| GLOBANT | 42.42 | -5.73% | -31.91% | 45.00 | 45.00 | 42.35 | 257,828 |
| MERCADOLIBRE | 1,700 | +1.89% | -26.07% | 1,669 | 1,728 | 1,672 | 504,596 |
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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