The market starts with a new face

By Carlos Fontana
Columnist for Ámbito Financiero

Perhaps it is not the best face, but the market started the second half of the year with a new one. In the light of the falls of the last days of the last week, yesterday, Merval index closed at 0.97%. It is not much but, under the present circumstances, and observing the performance of the Brazilian market with a 0.03% fall, we can find comfort in it.

Anyway, we should not build our hopes up. We observed a crouching market from the very beginning, touching 400.12 points. Then, the market jumped and reached 405 points and fell again. After that, its performance was indefinite, until the last hour, when prices made a last jump helped by TECO to stand at 406.16.

So far, it is convenient to be cautious because all this happened with only $13.5 million trading volume.

Stock Exchange Vs Bonds

Merval index christened a new face, too. The index incorporated two companies Cresud and Irsa (previously part of Soros) and increased Pérez, Galicia and Teco's stake. These three companies are now responsible for 64% of the index variation and thus, the power of the index to represent the market improves a little.

This explains the slight rise of the local index, which gained 0.97% and the 1.6% improvement of Teco, which defined the session. In percentage terms, Santander rose 5.56% and headed the set of 26 bullish stocks and Atanor, with a 2.3% fall, headed the list of bearish stocks.