Tension over the trade war has generated a new escalation of the dollar

The resurgence of the trade war between the United States and China has strengthened the dollar, which rose 0.94% yesterday and closed at $ 46.36 on average in the banks and agencies of the city of Buenos Aires, while that the price reached $ 46 in Rosario. , 50 Although the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) did not intervene in the market and validated a slight decline in the reference rate, the day was marked by the auction of Letras del Tesoro (Letes) in dollars and cents. of capitalized letters in pesos (Lecap)), thanks to which the Ministry of Finance was able to absorb a large part of the amortization of Bonar 2024 expired yesterday.

The dependence of Nicolás Dujovne yesterday yielded $ 988 million of Letes at a nominal annual rate of 4% and $ 31.127 million from Lecaps with a yield of 59.43%. As a result, it absorbed a large portion of the US $ 1,900 million of the dollar loan, the first installment of which matured yesterday.

In addition, the US dollar appreciated against a backdrop of widespread weakness in emerging currencies resulting from a stronger global dollar, although this was expressed more forcefully in Argentina. In fact, the devaluation of the peso in the country surpbaded the Colombian currency which fell by 1.32%, the Turkish lira by 1.22%, the Chilean peso which yielded 0.95%, the Mexican peso 0.42 % or against the real who lost 0.27%.

In the wholesale segment, the dollar rose 1.52% and ended at $ 45.33.

On the monetary side, the BCRA validated yesterday a reduction of the Leliq rate of 29 basis points, reaching an average of 73.242% for a total allocated of 215 203 million dollars and generated a contraction of the liquidity of 8 104 million dollars.

The badyst Christian Buteler explained that the day was calm but that "the last half hour, the dollar has gained strength and eventually increased more than in the region". He said that this had happened despite the sale of treasure and the absorption of pesos by Leliq.

Fernando Izzo, of ABC Mercado de Cambios, said the dollar's rise was due to "fewer offers from the agri-food industry yesterday and to a real wholesale order form appeared on the free-market. exchange an hour before closing ".

Thus, the volume traded in the cash sector amounted to US $ 669 million and US $ 10 million to the future MAE. On the Rofex, 812 million US dollars were operated, 35% less than Monday.

External uncertainty has also hit the stock market. The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange fell by 0.75%, due to global instability, and the country risk rose to 919 basis points after US President Donald Trump's threat to raise tariffs in China.

Wall Street also closed with losses of up to 1.96%. The Dow Jones lost 1.79% and the S & P 500 lost 1.65%.

IMF mission

In this framework, a new mission of the Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in the country today to carry out the fourth review of the economic plan of Argentina that supports the 36-month confirmation agreement . This is the first visit after the change in BCRA's strategy on non-intervention areas that it had to put in place due to financial difficulties.