The Colombian benchmark stock index opened higher, boosted by world
markets, as investors received this weekend’s news about a $586 billion
China economic stimulus plan for its exporters.
The Colombian IGBC stock index was up 3.4% to 7,395.26 points as of 9:42 a.m. EST.
“Basically, the market here follows what happens abroad in countries
such as Brazil,” Paula Delgadillo, a market analyst with local
brokerage Valores Banc Colombia, said. “Ecopetrol’s
higher-than-expected net profit is also pushing the market upwards,”
she said.
The state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETROL.BO) said early
Monday its net profit in the first nine months of the year had
increased 153% to 9.58 trillion Colombian pesos ($4.22 billion).
The shares of Ecopetrol were up 4.5% to COP2,075 as of 9:45 a.m.
The Colombian peso strengthened to COP2,267.95 from COP2,304.85 on Friday.
The yield on the benchmark peso-denominated government bond maturing in 2020 fell to 12.550% from 12.76% on Friday.