A roundup of Tuesday’s stock market results from across the region
🗽 On Wall Street:
U.S. stock markets recovered from their bad start to the week on Tuesday, after oil prices fell back and which helped to boost shares linked to the aviation sector, which had been affected by the increase in fuel costs.
The S&P 500 rose 2.14%, while the Nasdaq Composite (CCMPDL) gained 2.92% and the Dow Jones Industrials advanced 1.82%.
“Airline stocks celebrate plunging oil prices and solid domestic travel demand. Delta and Virgin foresee little impact from the war in Ukraine on North Atlantic travel,” said Edward Moya, an analyst at Oanda.
While the markets’ attention is on the success of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, investors are now focusing their eyes on the Federal Reserve meeting, which could raise the U.S. interest rate to control the highest inflation in 40 years.
🔑 The Day’s Key Figures:
Oil prices continue to give up ground, as negotiations between Russia and Ukraine advance and China’s lockdowns raise questions as to whether demand from the largest crude importer could be affected.
Both references fell below $100, after reaching highs with the start of the war in Eastern Europe and concerns that supply was not keeping pace with demand from the economies.
WTI fell 8.17% to $94.60, while benchmark Brent lost 8.15% and closed at $98.19.
There were also signs that nuclear talks with Iran may resume, which would pave the way for more oil supply to enter the market.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that sanctions on his country will not affect the Iranian nuclear deal, generating optimism that the pact could be revived.
🥇 The Leader:
Chile’s Ipsa (IPSA) index had the best performance in Latin America, closing the day with an increase of 0.75%.
The communications services, industrial and consumer commodities sectors had the best performance.
During the session, Entel (ENTEL) shares rose 10.75%, after Diario Financiero reported that the Chilean telecommunications company hired BNP Paribas to look for buyers for its fiber optic network.
Entel’s network could be valued at between $300 million and $500 million, Diario Financiero said, citing sources close to the process.
Mexico’s stock market also advanced on Tuesday and the S&P BMV/IPC (MEXBOL) rose 0.38% and was the second best performer in the region.
📉 A Bad Day:
Argentina’s main index the Merval (MERVAL) once again had the worst performance in the region, after having closed Monday with the sharpest drop since November of last year.
The stock index deepened its decline on Tuesday and closed with a decrease of 1.06%. Once again, Cresud (CRES) shares fell the most during the day after the Agriculture Ministry suspended the export of soybean meal and oil, in order to evaluate an increase in the percentage of withholding taxes applied to those sales abroad.
Stocks related to the energy and commodities sector were also affected, with falls in the shares of YPF (YPFD) and Ternium (TXAR). International commodity prices continue to retreat from the highs they reached after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Brazil’s Ibovespa (IBOV) fell by 0.88%, pressured by the fall in commodity prices.
🍝 For the Dinner Table Debate:
Two years on from Covid-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), experts are already debating under what terms and conditions the health emergency will end. However, there are still countries reporting record levels of infection, such as China, despite high vaccination rates.
Recently, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom said that the pandemic “is far from over”, warning that a slowdown in infections and deaths must be achieved “everywhere” or the pandemic will not end.
But even with these declarations, most countries are beginning to relax their self-protection and biosecurity measures, based on the decrease in cases and the effectiveness of vaccinations. Moreover, within the WHO itself, a group of experts is already evaluating how and when to put an end to the emergency.
Bloomberg Línea consulted three experts in infectious diseases and epidemiology in the region to answer five questions about the pandemic and its endgame.
