ARGENTINE ASSETS TRADED MIXED, WITH EQUITIES THE WEAKEST SPOT, Dollar sovereigns gave back part of the prior session's gains and country risk moved back toward the 600 bps area, on a day of slight pullback in emerging-market debt. Peso curves were the exception, with gains across all segments and the long end in the lead. The official exchange rate was practically unchanged, financial dollars eased slightly and the central bank kept buying. The Merval fell sharply, dragged down by banks and energy.

DOLLAR BONDS CLOSED DOWN 0.2% ON AVERAGE, in line with emerging-market debt, which also fell 0.2%. Bonares retreated 0.3% and Globales 0.1%. The short end managed to close higher while the long end concentrated the losses under both legislations. Country risk rose 13 bps to close at 586 bps. Bopreal notes in MEP dollars rose 0.1%.

PESO CURVES KEPT A FIRM TONE IN USD TERMS, closing higher across all segments. CER-to-TAMAR duals and dollar-linked notes led with 0.4%, followed by CER-linked bonds at 0.3%, while fixed-rate bonds and TAMAR instruments both advanced 0.2%. In all cases the long end outperformed the short end.

THE OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATE CLOSED PRACTICALLY UNCHANGED AT $1,520.7, and is up 0.2% in October. In the financial segment, the MEP dollar fell 0.1% to $1,538.9, while the CCL dollar also eased 0.1% to $1,606.0, with the spread at 4.4%. Separately, the central bank bought USD 45 M on the day, bringing October purchases to USD 228 M and year-to-date purchases to USD 14,808 M. Gross reserves rose USD 11 M to close at USD 49,134 M.

THE MERVAL FELL 2.5% IN CCL-DOLLAR TERMS (ALSO 2.5% IN PESOS), to USD 1,752.7, in a session of broad-based selling. Consumer discretionary was the only sector higher, followed from afar by communications and industrials, while financials, energy and consumer staples lagged. On the local panel, only Mirgor finished higher (+8.0%), while Banco de Valores (-0.2%) and Aluar (-0.6%) fell the least. The biggest declines were Holcim (-7.0%), BBVA Argentina (-4.7%) and Cresud (-3.9%). On Wall Street, ADRs fell 2.2% on average: only Mercado Libre rose (+0.8%), Globant (-0.2%) and Telecom (-0.6%) slipped slightly, while BBVA (-4.6%), Cresud (-4.1%) and Supervielle (-4.0%) led the declines.