By Taos Turner
BUENOS AIRES--Argentine stocks slid Tuesday while GDP warrants
declined and the peso continued to weaken.
The Merval stock index slid 0.33% to 4,631.85 in volume totaling
ARS109 million ($19 million).
The power company Pampa Energia SA (PAMP.BA, PAM) led the gains
for a second day, rising 4.8% to ARS1.74. Pampa's electricity
distributor, Edenor (EDN.BA), also gained, rising 1.5% to ARS1.33.
Both companies had surged Monday on speculation that Argentina's
government will raise utility rates sometime after a congressional
election in late October.
Grupo Financiero Galicia SA (GGAL.BA, GGAL), the day's
most-traded stock, fell about 2% to ARS7.73.
Steel producer Tenaris SA (TEN.MI, TS) fell about half a percent
to ARS219.
GDP warrants, or securities whose performance are tied to
economic growth, declined. The TVPE GDP warrant fell 0.63% to ARS95
while the TVYO warrant fell 0.79% to ARS75.20.
The Argentine peso weakened to ARS5.7420 against the U.S. dollar
on the regulated MAE foreign-exchange wholesale market, versus
ARS5.7315 the previous session.
The central bank intervenes in the exchange market daily to buy
dollars and build its foreign currency reserves, while gradually
weakening the peso to help exporters.
In the underground market, the peso traded for ARS9.31 to the
dollar versus ARS9.30 the previous day, according to the newspaper
El Cronista, which publishes rates collected from black-market
traders.
Strict capital controls that limit the amount of foreign
currency Argentines can purchase legally have fueled a parallel
illegal market for dollars where people pay a steep premium for the
U.S. currency.
Write to Taos Turner at taos.turner@wsj.com