Argentina's Markets Pause As Peso Freeze Meets Post-Rally Fatigue

(MENAFN- The Rio Times) Key Points

• Official and blue peso rates now trade almost on top of each other, signaling short-term calm but also heavy state management of the currency.
  
• The S&P Merval has slipped about 2% from record highs as investors digest a spectacular post-election rally and wait for Javier Milei's next reform steps.
  
• While Mexico and Colombia surge despite louder political noise, Argentina's already-re-rated assets have moved into a“prove it” phase.
  

Argentina wakes up this morning to a strangely quiet peso and a stock market catching its breath. The wholesale dollar trades near 1,440 pesos, barely changed in recent sessions, while the blue dollar hovers around 1,430–1,445.

The traditional gap between official and informal rates has almost vanished, a sign that tight fiscal policy and firmer discipline in Buenos Aires are working, but also that capital controls and an IMF -backed band still dominate price discovery.



On the charts, the 4-hour USD/ARS candles show a narrow sideways range above 1,435, with RSI recovering from oversold territory and MACD turning up from negative.

The daily picture is similar: the pair drifts along its 20-day average with fading momentum, while the weekly trend still points gently toward further peso weakening. The message is one of managed depreciation rather than another bout of left-era currency chaos.

Equities tell a parallel story. The S&P Merval fell close to 2% on Tuesday to just under three million points, its third consecutive decline after flirting with fresh nominal records.



Transportadora de Gas names TRAN and TGNO4, along with exchange operator BYMA, managed modest gains, while utilities and financials led the retreat, with Edenor (EDN), Grupo Supervielle (SUPV) and Ternium Argentina (TXAR) among the steepest losers.

Overseas, the Argentina ETF ARGT has softened after heavy inflows, mirroring Wall Street's more cautious tone as the dollar index meanders around 99.

By contrast, Mexican and Colombian stocks continue to rip higher despite harsh rhetoric from Washington and persistent worries over spending and security at home. Investors seem to discount talk of invasions as theatre, focusing instead on earnings, oil and nearshoring.

Argentina, a declared friend of the current US administration and newly welcomed back into bond markets, is paying the price of early success: after a huge re-rating on promises of smaller government and market reforms, global money now wants delivery before pushing prices“to the moon” again.

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