WEDNESDAY'S SESSION SAW A RETURN OF GLOBAL RISK APPETITE, lifting Argentine sovereign assets to trade above the emerging market average. Dollar-denominated bonds recovered ground with particular strength at the long end, while country risk continued to compress. In the FX market, the BCRA accelerated its pace of purchases. ARS-denominated debt followed with a positive tone, led by dual instruments. The April trade balance was also released, recording a surplus driven by strong export performance.

ARS-DENOMINATED DEBT POSTED A POSITIVE PERFORMANCE, led by dual instruments, which rose 0.6%. CER bonds followed with a gain of 0.5%, while the fixed-rate curve lagged, rising 0.4%. Dollar-linked instruments rose 0.3%. Dollar-denominated bonds also closed higher, gaining 1.1% and outperforming emerging market debt, with more pronounced gains of 1.3% at the long end under both legal jurisdictions, while the short end rose just 0.4%. With this performance, country risk fell to 532 bps. Bopreal bonds rose 0.2%.

THE OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATE TRADED STEADILY, closing at $1,398.83, sitting 24.4% below the top of the band. Financial exchange rates were mixed: the MEP rose 0.1% to $1,431.15, while the alternative financial rate fell 0.4% to $1,487.58, with the spread narrowing to 3.9% from 4.5%. The BCRA purchased USD 328M during the session. Given that the agricultural sector settled only USD 70M, the bulk of purchases can be attributed to corporate bond liquidations. With these operations, the BCRA has accumulated USD 1,551M in purchases for the month and USD 8,706M year-to-date. Gross reserves rose USD 393M, closing at USD 46,583M.

THE MERVAL ADVANCED 0.5% IN ARS AND 0.9% IN DOLLAR TERMS, closing at USD 1,875. The rally was driven by the financial sector, while energy and utilities declined. On the local board, Banco BBVA (+6.2%), Banco Galicia (+5.0%), and Holcim (+4.7%) led the gains, while Transportadora Gas del Sur (-5.3%), Pampa Energía (-2.8%), and Mirgor (-2.7%) led the declines. Among New York-listed shares, the average rose 2.1%, with BBVA (+6.9%), Grupo Supervielle (+6.0%), and Ternium (+5.6%) as the top gainers, while TGS (-5.2%), Vista Energy (-5.0%), and Pampa Energía (-3.6%) posted the largest losses.

THE APRIL TRADE BALANCE CLOSED WITH A HISTORIC SURPLUS OF USD 2,711M, driven by exports that grew 33.6% year-over-year to USD 8,914M, while imports fell 4.0% year-over-year to USD 6,204M. On the export side, all categories rose: fuels and energy reached a record USD 1,554M (+85.9% YoY), followed by manufacturing exports (MOI, +43.3%), primary products (+25.0%), and agro-industrial manufactures (MOA, +14.1%). The increase was driven by both volumes (+20.6%) and prices (+10.8%). On the import side, the 7.7% decline in volumes offset the 4.1% rise in prices.