Colombian stocks ended virtually unchanged Tuesday despite a sharp fall in Grupo Nacional de Chocolates SA, the country’s largest food producer.
The Colombian Stock Exchange’s IGBC index of blue-chip stocks declined 0.01% to close at 15,366.95 points.
Chocolates’ shares dropped 4.06% to COP26,000. Analysts say food crops have been damaged by persistent rains over the past six months, which is likely to be costly for producers.
Offsetting some of the losses in Chocolates’ share price was a rise in Cementos Argos S.A., Colombia’s biggest cement maker. Its share price rose 1.79% to COP11,400.
The Colombian peso, meanwhile, weakened marginally, ending at COP1,895 for $1 from COP1,893 at Monday’s close.