U.S.-traded shares of Argentine companies were rising sharply early Monday after Javier Milei won the country’s presidency.
American depositary receipts of Argentina’s main oil company
YPF
YPF
(ticker: YPF), which is majority-owned by the government after it was nationalized a decade ago, jumped 33% when the market opened. ADRs of
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
(
BBVA
) rose 0.3%, while those of
Grupo Financiero Galicia
(GGAL), another bank, added 19%.
The exchange-traded fund
Global X MSCI Argentina
(ARGT) is up 10%. If it closes that high, it would be one of its biggest one-day gains in at least a decade.
Milei, who fashions himself as an antiestablishment “anarcho-capitalist,” defeated the economy minister Sergio Massa in a runoff vote Sunday. Milei ran on a platform of radical proposals to cope with inflation rates exceeding 140% and widespread poverty. Milei champions libertarian ideas, in contrast with the more left-leaning current government.
Milei has proposed eliminating Argentina’s central bank, and adopting the U.S. dollar as the currency of a nation of 46 million people. He also pledged to reduce the role of government in the economy.
Argentina has endured decades of economic turmoil and has repeatedly borrowed from then International Monetary Fund. Since 2001, the country has defaulted on its international sovereign debt three times.
Write to Brian Swint at brian.swint@barrons.com
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