2017.11.0818:37:00UTC+00ARGENTINA: Merval Closes Stable As Rate Hike Weighs On Stocks

Merval, the main index of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, reversed initial slight gains and closed near stability (-0.01%) at 28,116.68 points on Wednesday, in a session in which positive corporate results were not enough to compensate the rate hike announced Tuesday by the Argentinean central bank (BCRA).

The BCRA rose its benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points, to 28.75% per year.

"Such an action in this scenario can hardly have a bullish path. The worst enemy of the stock market is the interest rate," said the economist Salvador Di Stefano.

On the corporate side, Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS, -0.33%) reported a profit 242.72% higher when compared with same period in the previous year.

Meanwhile, Transportadora de Gas del Norte (TGN, + 1.11%) reported in a statement to the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange a gain of 603,110 pesos for the nine-month period ended in September 2017.

Meanwhile, the locally traded U.S.e dollar fell 0.79%, closing at 17.52 Argentinean pesos, also due to Tuesday's interest rate hike.

"As expected, the U.S. dollar fell today, because yesterday the Central Bank raised the interest rate back to 28.75%, thus raising the rates of the money and the Treasury letters", said Fernando Izzo, an analyst at ABC Mercado de Cambios.