Overview

• After a sharp sell-off linked to leaked-audio corruption allegations, the official dollar at Banco Nación hit $1,370 on Monday near its nominal record and sovereign bonds and equities tumbled.
• On Tuesday the wholesale rate slipped about $5.5 to $1,356.5, the BNA quote held at $1,370, and the MEP and CCL dipped slightly while the blue closed at $1,365.
• JP Morgan’s country-risk gauge jumped roughly 100 points to about 829 basis points following declines of up to 4% in hard-currency bonds and steep losses in Argentine ADRs.
• The BCRA’s latest encaje increase lifts required reserves to about 53.5% to drain liquidity, with hefty volumes in spot and futures markets as rates remain high.
• The Treasury scheduled a new auction of Lecaps, TAMAR and dollar-linked securities to absorb pesos during a week with around $9 trillion in maturities, with investors focused on the Sept. 7 Buenos Aires vote and the Oct. 26 national elections.