Colombia stocks climbed Friday as shares of Toronto-based oil company Pacific Rubiales (PRE.T) began to rebound from previous losses.
The IGBC index, considered the benchmark for Colombian stocks, posted a 0.6% increase to close at 14384.
Shares of Rubiales, which fell over three of the previous four trading sessions, gained 2.4% Friday to COP53,400. Shares of state-controlled energy firm Ecopetrol (ECOPETROL.BO) fell 1.3% to COP3,800.
Meantime, the rallying Colombian peso closed Friday at COP1,768.70 for $1, slightly weaker from Thursday’s close of COP1,767.25. The peso is 5% stronger against the dollar this month and earlier this week hit its strongest level since 2008. The currency’s strength is hurting Colombian exporters, forcing officials to look for ways to prevent excessive peso strength.
Colombia’s central bank said Friday afternoon it will continue to buy $20 million a day in the spot forex market as one way to tamp the peso, while the government unveiled a dollar-buying plan of its own that should also keep a lid on it. The government will buy more than $1 billion in the forex market this year and put those greenbacks into a fund that will be used in 2012 to pay down dollar-denominated debt.
The yield on the benchmark, peso-denominated 2020 bond stood at 8.309% Friday from 8.3% at the previous session’s close.