By Taos Turner
BUENOS AIRES--Argentine stocks, bonds and GDP warrants ended the
week in positive terrain while the peso was little changed against
the U.S. dollar.
The Merval stock rose 2.27% to 4,494.93 in volume totaling
ARS111 million ($19.3 million).
The steel producer Tenaris SA (TEN.MI, TS) was by far the most
traded stock on Friday. Its volume traded was more than double that
of any other stock and it rose 1.2% to ARS214.60.
The financial company Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (GGAL.BA,
GGAL) was also heavily traded. It rose 2.9% to ARS7.57. Telecom
Argentina SA (TECO2.BA, TEO) led the gains by rising almost 5% to
ARS36.20.
So-called GDP warrants, whose performance is tied to economic
growth, did particularly well after the government forecast
Thursday that the economy would grow 6.2% next year.
The TVPA GDP warrant rose 4.62% to ARS78.99 while the TVPY
warrant rose 2.74% to ARS75.
The DICA discount bond in dollars jumped 3.743% to ARS887.
Meanwhile, the Argentine peso weakened just a hair to ARS5.7270
against the U.S. dollar on the regulated MAE foreign-exchange
wholesale market, versus ARS5.7220 the previous session.
The central bank intervenes in the exchange market daily to buy
dollars and build its foreign currency reserves, while gradually
weakening the peso to help exporters.
In the underground market, the peso was unchanged at ARS9.30 to
the dollar, according to the newspaper El Cronista, which publishes
rates collected from black-market traders.
Strict capital controls that limit the amount of foreign
currency Argentines can purchase legally have fueled a parallel
illegal market for dollars where people pay a steep premium for the
U.S. currency.
Write to Taos Turner at taos.turner@wsj.com