A roundup of Wednesday’s stock market results from across the region
🗽 On Wall Street:
U.S. stock markets took a brief breather and closed mixed on Wednesday, following the release of the Federal Reserve minutes and amid ongoing tension between Ukraine and Russia.
Although the S&P 500 rose slightly by 0.09%, the Dow Jones Industrials lost 0.16%. The Nasdaq Composite (CCMPDL) followed suit, falling 0.11% on the day.
“The Fed minutes were less hawkish than many expected and that helped risk appetite return a bit,” wrote Edward Moya, an analyst at Oanda. “The Fed expects inflationary pressures to broaden as the year progresses, but they will not be rushing to make any decisions.”
Commodity, industrial and retail companies outperformed technology stocks. In addition, two-year Treasury yields, which are more sensitive to Fed moves, retreated, Bloomberg reported.
🔑 Key Points of the Day:
The Federal Reserve minutes were one of the day’s top economic stories after they revealed that the U.S. central bank sees the possibility of increasing the speed of monetary policy tightening.
“Most participants noted that, if inflation does not decline as they expect, it would be appropriate for the Committee to remove accommodative policy at a faster pace than they currently anticipate,” according to the minutes of the Jan. 25-26 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
During the meeting, the FOMC discussed balance sheet reduction plans for this year. “Several participants commented that conditions likely warrant beginning to reduce the size of the balance sheet at some point this year,” the minutes said.
Oil prices also added another day of gains as uncertainty over the Ukraine crisis continues. Although Moscow has said it has begun withdrawing some troops, the West denies it has seen any signs of a de-escalation of a possible conflict.
🥇 The Leader:
Argentina’s stock market had the best performance in Latin America, with the Merval (MERVAL) index closing with a 2.88% hike.
Shares of Transpotadora de Gas del Norte, Cablevision Holding (CVH), YPF (YPFD) and Transpotadora de Gas del Sur (TGSU2) were among the best performers.
Installed capacity utilization in Argentine industry averaged 63.6% in 2021, the second best annual mark since the series was first recorded in 2016, the official statistical entity reported Wednesday.
In addition, Economy Minister Martín Guzmán rejected the possibility that there are any “secret documents” in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the record debt taken by Argentina in 2018.
The Ibovespa (IBOV), the leading index of the largest stock market by market capitalization in Latin America, closed with a gains of 0.31%. The S&P/BMV IPC, the main index of the Mexican stock market, closed up 0.88%.
📉 A Bad Day:
The main Peruvian index was the worst performer in Latin America on Wednesday, the S&P BVL/Peru (SPBLPGPT) closing down 0.70% drop, with sectors such as industry and consumer goods registering losses during the day.
In a session of profit-taking, the decline came after the index posted a 2.22% gain on Tuesday. In addition, during the day, Congress leader Maria del Carmen Alva announced that on March 8, the house’s vote of confidence on the ministerial cabinet led by Anibal Torres will take place.
This will add more uncertainty to Peruvian politics, after President Pedro Castillo made his fourth cabinet change earlier this month since taking office in July 2021.
🍝 For the Dinner Table Debate:
Colombian businessman Álex Saab, who is on trial in the U.S. for money laundering, cooperated with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2018, documents revealed Wednesday in his trial in a U.S. court.
The documents show that Saab gave information to DEA agents about the bribes he paid to Venezuelan officials. In fact, meetings were allegedly held in Colombia, and the delivery of $10 million of his fortune was on the table as part of the agreement.
The Colombian was no longer a DEA cooperator after missing the May 30, 2019 deadline to surrender to U.S. justice. Two months later he was indicted by a Miami court on charges of diverting millions of dollars in contracts to build houses to be delivered by the Venezuelan government.
