The Banco Central de la República Argentina in Buenos Aires. (Photo internet reproduction)

01 The session in one read

The Merval closed Friday at 3,086,784.5 points, down 0.45% from the previous session’s 3,100,731.8. It was the sixth consecutive fall in peso terms and left the index back at the level it last held on 5 June.

The day had a wide swing inside it. The index reached 3,149,198.9 at the top and 3,055,274.6 at the bottom before settling nearer the lower end, which is a spread of about 3% between the extremes.

Measured in dollars the picture is worse. The index has moved away from the 2,000-point barrier that had acted as a floor since 22 May, and August is now running at a loss approaching 6%.

The contrast with the rest of the world was the day’s defining feature. New York finished close to record highs after the American employment report, while Argentine bonds, shares and the risk premium all moved the other way.

02 The day’s numbers

The distance from the peak is the number that frames the month. From the intraday record of 3,395,937 points set on 22 July to Friday’s close, the index has given up 309,152 points, or 9.10%, by The Rio Times’ calculation.

The currency, by contrast, did almost nothing. The wholesale rate that the market watches ended near 1,498.50 pesos per dollar, and the official rate at Banco Nación was unchanged at 1,470 to buy and 1,520 to sell.
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03 Why it moved — a good global day that Argentina did not join

The starting point was American. Employers in the United States shed jobs in July rather than adding them, which cooled the labour market more than expected and shifted the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.

That reading usually helps countries like Argentina. A softer dollar and lower American rates loosen global financial conditions, reduce the appeal of holding dollars and push money toward riskier markets, while cheaper external funding tends to narrow the spread on government debt.

It did not happen. Argentine sovereign bonds in dollars fell, the shares traded in New York fell, and the risk premium widened rather than compressing.

The explanation came from three domestic figures released around the same time. The statistics agency reported that industrial production contracted 2.2% in the first half of 2026, and that construction fell 4.1% in June, its fourth consecutive monthly decline.

Inflation in the city of Buenos Aires then accelerated to 2.9% in July. Combined with tight conditions in the local money market, that pushed peso-denominated sovereign bonds broadly lower.

The central bank added a further note of firmness. It ruled out lowering the reserves banks must hold, said it would not intervene over rising loan arrears, and indicated it is counting on a recovery in credit to resolve the problem instead.

04 The day’s movers

The selling in New York was broader than the Buenos Aires index suggests, with the worst-hit Argentine shares down as much as 5.6%. Bioceres, an agricultural biotechnology company, led the decline at 4.4%.

Two of the three worst performers have a direct line to the domestic data. Corporación América runs airports and Loma Negra makes cement, so both sit squarely in the activity numbers that disappointed this week.

The bond market moved in the same direction for a different reason. Analysts pointed to the money market rather than to any single company, with tight peso liquidity and the Buenos Aires inflation print pushing local-currency debt lower across the board.

05 The peso and the risk premium

The currency was the quiet part of the day. The wholesale rate closed around 1,498.50 pesos per dollar, down about 1.25 pesos, and the official rate at Banco Nación did not move at all from 1,470 to buy and 1,520 to sell.

The parallel rates drifted the other way. The financial dollar used to move money offshore rose about 0.6% to roughly 1,581 pesos, while the stock-market dollar gained around 0.4% to about 1,526.

The risk premium is where the pressure showed. At 451 points it is 3% higher than a day earlier and back to levels last seen in June, having spent recent weeks approaching the psychologically important 400 mark from above.

Forecasts still point to a gradual, controlled slide rather than a break. The central bank’s monthly survey of analysts put the average wholesale rate for August at 1,512 pesos and the December figure at 1,652.

That December projection was cut by 20.70 pesos from the previous month’s survey. If it holds, the wholesale dollar would end the year 14.1% above December 2025—far below expected inflation over the same period, which means a further real appreciation of the peso.

The central bank has also been shoring up its position. It renewed its currency swap with China this week and extended the term from three years to five, which it framed as a move for greater predictability.

06 The regional scoreboard

The region split on how closely each market tracks the United States. Mexico rose 0.82% because a softer American rate outlook reads straight through to a market tied to the American cycle, and it was the only clear gainer.

Argentina and Brazil both fell, but for different reasons. Brazil lost 1.73% as global investors moved money out of emerging markets and into American technology shares, while Argentina’s decline was domestic. Chile eased 0.17% after a week that still finished 2.18% higher, and Colombia did not trade at all, with Friday being the Battle of Boyacá holiday.

07 The technical picture

The Merval has now fallen six sessions in a row and sits at 3,086,784.5, back where it traded on 5 June. That erases two months of progress and puts the index roughly 9% below its July record.

The dollar-denominated reading is the one long-term investors watch, and it has slipped away from 2,000 points, a level that held as a floor from 22 May onward. Losing that support is more meaningful than the peso number, because it strips out the effect of inflation on the index.

The rising line that has guided the index since late last year still runs beneath the current level, so the longer trend is not yet broken. But six consecutive down sessions on a day when the global backdrop was helpful is the kind of pattern that tends to need a domestic catalyst to reverse.

08 What to watch

• Country risk at 450: The premium has turned back up; whether it resumes its move toward 400 is the clearest single gauge of sentiment.
• The activity data: Industry and construction both disappointed this week, and the next monthly readings will show whether that is a trend or a pause.
• National inflation: The Buenos Aires city figure accelerated to 2.9%; the national number is the one that moves peso bonds.
• Money-market liquidity: Tight peso conditions were blamed for the bond selling, and the central bank has ruled out easing reserve requirements.
• United States and Iran: Analysts named the negotiations as the main external driver for Argentine dollar bonds, through the oil price and inflation expectations.

Background: Latin America Stock Markets 2026: Ibovespa, Merval, COLCAP, IPSA and IPC Guide.

Background: Brazil’s Financial Morning Call for Friday, August 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the S&P Merval?

It is Argentina’s main stock index, tracking the most heavily traded companies on the Buenos Aires exchange. Because Argentine inflation is high, the index is quoted in millions of pesos.

Why did Argentine shares fall when Wall Street rose?

A weak United States jobs report lifted American shares and would normally help emerging markets too. Argentine assets went the other way because domestic figures dominated: weak industrial and construction data, faster inflation in Buenos Aires city and tight conditions in the local money market.

What is country risk and why does it matter?

It measures the extra return investors demand to hold Argentine government debt rather than United States debt. It closed Friday at 451 points, up 3% in a day and the highest since June, which signals renewed caution about Argentina rather than about the world.

What happened to the peso?

Very little. The wholesale rate, which is the market’s reference, ended around 1,498.50 per dollar, a fall of about 1.25 pesos, while the official bank rate was unchanged at 1,520 for sale.

What are ADRs?

They are shares in Argentine companies traded in dollars in New York. They fell by as much as 5.6% on Friday, led by Bioceres, Corporacion America and Loma Negra.

Daily series

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