Colombia stocks fell Monday as shares of leading local oil companies were hurt by lower global oil prices and data showing exploration wells in Colombia came up dry last quarter.
The IGBC index, which encompasses the Colombian stock market’s blue-chip shares, posted a 1.17% decline to close at 13938.08 points. It was the first time the index fell below 14000 in more than a month. For the year, the index is down 10%.
Shares of state-controlled energy firm Ecopetrol (ECOPETROL.BO) fell 1.77% to COP3,605, while the price for Canada-based Pacific Rubiales (PRE.T), which operates the largest oil field in Colombia, dropped 2.21% to COP51,360.
Crude oil futures tumbled by a few dollars per barrel Monday on concerns over ratings agency Standard and Poor’s decision to cut its outlook on U.S. government debt.
Also hurting the share prices of oil companies in Colombia were data from the government’s oil-licensing agency ANH that showed exploratory wells by firms including Ecopetrol and Rubiales had a 0% success rate during the first quarter.
Of 38 exploratory wells, 26 were still being tested, 12 were confirmed dry and none was deemed a producing well. For all of 2010, the success rate on exploratory wells was 58%, and was a reported 72% during the first three months of last year.
Meantime, the Colombian peso retreated slightly Monday, closing at COP1,800.00 for $1 from COP1,798.25 on Friday, according to central bank data.
The yield on the benchmark, peso-denominated 2020 bond stood at 8.192% Monday from 8.150% a day earlier.