THE OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATE FELL 0.7% TO ARS 1,391.97, REMAINING 14.5% BELOW THE UPPER LIMIT OF THE TRADING BAND. Financial dollars traded mixed, with the MEP rising 0.1% to ARS 1,414.4 and the CCL declining 1.2% to ARS 1,449.1, while the spread closed at 2.5%. The decline in the exchange rate occurred even as the central bank extended its streak of purchases in the official market, buying USD 76 M. As a result, it has accumulated net purchases of USD 1,088 M in February and USD 2,238 M so far this year. Meanwhile, gross international reserves fell by USD 216 M to close at USD 44,913 M.

‍ARS-DENOMINATED DEBT TRADED WITH APOSITIVE TONE DUE TO THE PESO APPRECIATION: the overnight repo averaged 42.2% nominal annual rate (TNA) and the Repo stood at 41.7% TNA. In this context, the fixed-rate gained 1.10%, CER curve 1.1%, dollar-linked 1.5% and dual bonds 1.2%.

‍U.S. DOLLAR-DENOMINATED SOVEREIGN BONDS POSTED A WEAK PERFORMANCE, FALLING 0.6% AMID THE LOWER HOUSE SESSION ON THE LABOR REFORM. In this context, Bonares declined 0.7%, with losses of up to 1.3% in the long end of the curve, while Global bonds retreated 0.6%. As a result, country risk rose to 524 bps. Meanwhile, Bopreal bonds fell 0.5%.

‍THE MERVAL POSTED A STRONG REBOUND OF 4.2% IN PESOS AND 5.4% IN CCL DOLLAR TERMS, CLOSING AT USD 1,963 AND OUTPERFORMING OTHER GLOBAL EQUITY INDICES. Despite this gain, the index still shows a 2.0% decline so far this year and continues to trade sideways around the USD 2,000 level. The rebound was driven by the banking sector, which had suffered the sharpest declines in previous sessions. Banco Macro, Supervielle, and Galicia rose between 7.9% and 9.6%. Meanwhile, the only stock to post a negative performance was Aluar, which fell 2.0%. Argentine stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange gained 2.6%, exhibiting lower volatility than in the local market. Macro, Supervielle, and Galicia advanced between 6.2% and 7.5%, while Globant declined 7.7%.