The Colombian benchmark index Friday plunged 8.7%, its steepest decline since June 2006, following losses on Wall Street.
The IGBC stock index fell 8.7% to 7,502.73 points, the biggest one-day decline since June 13, 2006.
"There's no secret, the stock market here followed what happened in New
York," said Daniel Escobar, a market analyst with local brokerage
Gesvalores.
Shares of state-owned oil company Ecopetrol SA fell 9%
to 2,085 Colombian pesos ($0.90). Ecopetrol accounts for 47.6% of the
IGBC's weighting.
Shares plummeted even though the company reported that its net income
for the first eight months of the year rose 126% compared with the same
period a year ago.
"The oil price is going down, so people's expectation about the company's revenues is shrinking," Escobar said.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude oil futures closed under $80 a barrel.
The peso Friday weakened to its lowest level since Nov. 28, 2006 at COP2,314 to the dollar, from COP2,239 Thursday.
The yield on the benchmark peso-denominated government bond maturing in 2020 rose to 12.941% from 12.315% on Thursday. (Dow Jones)
