The S&P Merval index rose 142% in 2022 to 202,085.12 points, mainly driven by companies in the energy sector that showed increases of up to 348% in the year, and ended as the Stock Market with the highest performance worldwide.
The papers that increased the most throughout the year in the leading panel of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange were Transportadora de Gas del Sur (348.9%), YPF (303.4%), Transportadora de Gas del Norte (284%) and Transener (241.5%).
Important increases were also recorded by Central Puerto (228.2%), Sociedad Comercial del Plata (211.2%), Pampa Energía (165.2%), Grupo Financiero Valores (162.2%) and Edenor (141.7%). .
For their part, local companies listed on Wall Street recorded mixed results throughout the year, among which stood out the annual increases of YPF (140.7%), Transportadora Gas del Sur (84.8%) and Tenaris (67.1%).
On the other hand, Banco Macro led the falls with a decline of 49%; seconded by Despegar (-47.7%), Globant (-46.5%) and Mercadolibre (-37.2%).
In dialogue with Télam, Inviú’s head of Research, Diego Martínez Burzaco, said that “in relative terms the Argentine market had a very good year, taking into account that Wall Street fell by two digits and here the Merval rose more than 30% in dollars”.
“The great performance was driven by the energy, oil and gas and industrial sectors. The banks lagged further behind because it is a more procyclical industry and with a lot of public debt,” added the analyst.
Along the same lines, from Investing in the Stock Market (IEB) they highlighted that “with a return of almost 35% in US$ (counted with liquidation)”, the Argentine Stock Market this year was “the one with the highest performance worldwide”, with the energy sector as a “star” with increases of “up to almost 160% in dollars” in some cases.
Regarding the banks, the IEB specialists predicted that “if there is a hint of macroeconomic stability, the potential for the sector to rise is impressive.”
When imagining a general scenario for next year, Adcap’s Head of Equity Sales & Trading, Santiago Ruiz Guiñazú, told Télam: “We believe that the potential is great if an economic recovery is finally consolidated.”
“In recent months, the main variables at the macro level have been sorting out a bit and, in this sense, we are optimistic for what is coming in the Merval,” he added.
On the other hand, in the fixed income segment, bonds in dollars today registered increases of up to 7.9% in some cases, while titles rose up to 0.6%.
Within this framework, the country risk jumped 2.5%, ending the year at 2,213 basis points.
In the annual balance of the trajectory followed by the instruments in foreign currency, Martínez Burzaco indicated that “the bonds closed from less to more, with very strong falls for seven or eight months that took them to parity levels even lower than when they were defaulted”.
“In recent weeks they recovered strongly, but they also closed the year in negative”, he completed.
For her part, the corporate debt strategist of Adcap Grupo Financiero, María Moyano Hidalgo, told Télam that “sovereign bonds had poor returns in 2022 and continue in the price range of US$26 to US$32, pending of definitions regarding the electoral panorama and, above all, the fiscal adjustment”.
Despite the meager performance of government bonds, the analyst highlighted that “Argentine corporate bonds had a very good year. All companies’ prices recovered in 2022, earning returns ranging from 10% to 40%. The leader of the recovery in the corporate sector was undoubtedly YPF”.
According to Moyano Hidalgo, “corporate bonds have shown extreme resilience this year and also that companies with solid fundamentals and strong balance sheets are very valuable assets in stressful market situations.”
