Colombia’s Colcap index was down slightly Monday by 0.35% to 1,721.70. Volume was nearly as light today as it was last Friday, roughly USD $60 million traded hands on the Colombian stock exchange.
The S&P500 in the U.S. was also down a similar amount today, 0.27%, on record low volume for the year. Approximately 750 million shares were traded in the U.S. versus a daily average of one billion shares. Economic news was mixed as existing home sales in the States were up 2.1% in February, although consumer expenses jumped 0.7% versus personal earnings which only picked up 0.3%. The savings rate also declined 5.8% last month.
The Brazilian BOVESPA showed the largest losses of the major exchanges across the globe today. The index there was off 0.85%. Rates on 10 year Portuguese bonds rose to their highest levels ever seen, 7.94%, as the financial pressures in European countries continue to spook investors.
The peso lost nearly 0.50% of its value relative to the dollar in trading today as it neared 1,880.
Oil lost 1.48% today to $103.84/barrel as sentiment across the world is that the contagion in northern Africa won’t spread much more significantly. Cotton and coffee each lost around 3% of their value as well.