Argentina Markets Selective Awaiting New Bond Auction

FILE PHOTO - Overview of the Puerto Madero neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Nov 21, 2023. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian · Reuters

Reuters

Wed, Feb 25, 2026, 11:14 p.m. GMT+9 2 min read

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BUENOS AIRES, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Argentina’s markets operated selectively and with little fluctuation on Wednesday, in a day when the Treasury will auction bonds to renew maturities and attract idle funds to strengthen reserves and cover external payments.

The Finance Secretariat will auction seven bonds to address maturities of about 7.2 trillion pesos and will offer a new dollar-denominated bond - Bonar 2027 - which will pay interest monthly and amortize at maturity.

“Operators are watching the ‘Bonar 2027’ issuance, which mainly aims to take advantage of the strong growth in dollar deposits, with the intention of enticing savers through a short-term instrument that allows them to earn returns on their savings,” said economist Gustavo Ber.

“If successful results are achieved in successive auctions, which is likely given the intrinsic characteristics of the bond, it could lead to refinancing of July maturities without accessing international markets, while simultaneously aiming to deepen and develop the local capital market,” he estimated.

The coupon for ‘Bonar 2027’ will be 6% nominal annual and issuances will be up to $250 million per auction. ​Up to ​$150 million in the primary auction and another $100 million the following day at the cut-off price of the auction, with a maximum issuance of $2 billion.

The foreign exchange market showed a stable interbank rate at 1,381 per dollar, with no hedging pressures, maintaining the rate at four-month highs and allowing the central bank (BCRA) to buy foreign currency to bolster reserves.

The BCRA, which yesterday purchased $48 million, has accumulated $2.557 billion since implementing a new monetary policy at the beginning of the year.

“The possibility that exchange rate volatility increases and harms peso instrument returns is limited,” Neix Capital estimated.

“Volatility not only did not increase but decreased, which improved the returns on peso-denominated instruments adjusted for exchange rate volatility,” they added.

In this context, the leading stock index S&P Merval of Buenos Aires rose a modest 0.15%, with the market remaining attentive to U.S. economic fluctuations.

Meanwhile, over-the-counter sovereign bonds showed selective declines in pre-market trading, and the country risk rose to 545 basis points around 1345 GMT.

Continued Story  

• See larger gains in the S&P Merval

• See larger declines in the S&P Merval

(Report by Walter Bianchi; Edited by Jorge Otaola)

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