The dollar today: the BCRA has passed the test and the currency has risen by 30 cents in a day of high global volatility

The dollar has strengthened in the world after US President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he would increase tariffs on products of Chinese origin, as part of the from an upsurge in the trade war between the two powers.

The Central Bank, however, retained control of the foreign exchange market and, without direct intervention, the US dollar increased only 30 cents in the retail segment and 20% in the wholesaler. The average on which the Central Bank relies among the banks was $ 46, $ 42.93.

During the first wholesale market negotiations, they agreed to $ 45.10 with an increase of 66 cents starting on Friday. The National Bank started selling foreign currencies $ 46.10, with a rise of 70 cents. In private banks, the currency was sold around $ 46.40

According to the operators, the Central Bank had not carried out any transactions other than normal transactions until noon, that is to say, it had not sold any dollars beyond what was prescribed. by the Treasury. But the mere warning that the monetary authority is allowed to intervene has helped dispel the instability of previous days, during which the global situation has not helped.

At noon, the dollar was selling at $ 45.90 at the Banco Nación – an increase of 50 cents over Friday – and just under $ 45 on the wholesale market. The Central Bank sold the first $ 30 million of the day on behalf of the Treasury to $ 44.85 and made the first Leliq auction of the day ($ 130,989 million) at a rate of 73.575 percent.

The US currency has continued to cut and closed Monday at $ 44.65 in the wholesale market and $ 45.70 at the Banco Nación. The second Leliq call for tender provided for an additional 86.226 million pesos, which meant a slight reduction in the interest rate, which resulted in the closing of the market. 73.53% on average. In the second currency auction by Treasury account, the $ 30 million was placed at an average price of44.68.

"The dollar (wholesaler) closes at $ 44.65, a very good close after today 's bad expectations and after starting at $ 45.30," said ABC Mercado de Cambios.

"Without official intervention, the market has seen some moderation in the price adjustment because of the good revenue stream verified on the date," said Gustavo Quintana, public relations operator.

Asian stock markets suffered their worst fall in three years this morning and emerging market currencies depreciated around the world, against a dollar that was gaining strength.

Given this scenario, the Central Bank could intervene in the foreign exchange market to mitigate volatility, a week after the IMF authorized the monetary authority to sell currencies below the threshold of the floating band. (51.45 USD).

According to the operators, the monetary authority – which has stopped reporting the daily change in reserves and its participation in the market – has not sold any currencies these days, beyond the operations previously scheduled – the daily sales of 60 million US dollars for the Treasury account. .

The interest rate of the Leliq was the element chosen so far by Sandleris to try to tame the dollar. In addition, the BCRA has participated in sales on the futures markets.

On Friday, the dollar fell about 40 cents and closed at $ 45.55 in banks and $ 44.44 in the wholesale market. A week earlier, the retail price had hit $ 47. The country risk, which had exceeded 1000 points at that time, remained around 960 points last week and closed Friday at 931 units. The credit default swaps (CDS) at 5 years, insurance against the risk of default, fell by more than 60 points last week, after peaking at an unprecedented 1151 points.