Aug
2
By Taos Turner
BUENOS AIRES–Bank shares shined Thursday in Argentina, lifting the Merval stock index higher.
The Merval rose 2.2% to 3431.79 in volume totaling ARS45.6 million ($8.3 million).
Banco Frances (FRAN.BA) led the gains. It rose 5.5% to ARS11.50, but its volume traded was scant. Grupo Financiero Galicia (GGAL.BA) rose 4.7% to ARS4.65.
Steel producer Tenaris SA (TEN.MI, TS), the day’s most-traded stock, rose 2% to ARS187.
Argentina’s black-market peso appeared to close slightly weaker at ARS8.54 to the U.S. dollar, compared with ARS8.53 the previous day, according to the financial daily El Cronista, which tracks the market. But the peso’s black-market value, as tracked by Cronista, appears to have diverged recently from what might be the peso’s true underground value, according to currency traders.
Traders says that’s because government officials have cracked down and asked them to keep the peso from trading weaker than the ARS8.50 rate. As a result, some traders are reporting that they are selling the peso for this amount when in reality they are selling it to confidants for a weaker rate. The daily Cronista mentioned all of this in an article Thursday and said the true black-market rate might be closer to ARS9.70, depending on where and when the deal is done.
Traders said the rate may vary greatly depending on where and when the currency is sold. Some in this city have been selling dollars for around ARS9.
For the most part, Argentina bans the purchase of dollars, so people and companies that need greenbacks often turn to an underground currency market where they can get them for a premium.
In the formal market, the peso traded for ARS5.5110 against the dollar on the regulated MAE foreign-exchange wholesale market, versus ARS5.5060 the previous day.
The TVPA GDP warrant, whose performance is linked to economic growth, rose 4.78% in price terms to ARS71.25.
Write to Taos Turner at taos.turner@dowjones.com
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