The Colombian peso gained against the U.S. dollar Tuesday as the market continued to doubt the ability of authorities to tame the peso’s recent appreciation.
The peso closed at COP1,807 against the dollar after opening at COP1,825. Trading volume was $1.3 billion, the Central Bank reported.
Investors are awaiting a Central Bank monetary meeting slated for Friday, where an announcement could be made on the Central Bank’s plans to keep the peso from appreciating.
President Juan Manuel Santos met with the Central Bank’s board on Friday to discuss the recent appreciation of the peso, but declined to reveal what results, if any, came from the discussion.
The peso has rallied recently as the Central Bank stopped its dollar purchases in the spot market, which in the first half of the year totaled $1.6 billion. Several analysts predict that the central bank will likely intervene again if the peso strengthens past the COP1,800 mark.
RBS Securities analyst Flavia Cattan-Naslausky said in a research note on Monday that the Central Bank could make an announcement on Friday, either pointing to a restart of its dollar purchases or greater coordination with the Treasury to delay dollar sales by the government in the spot market.
Colombian stocks, meanwhile, rose with the benchmark IGBC index climbing 0.29% to 13339 points. Shares of Pacific Rubiales Energy, which is also listed in Canada, were up 1.29% to COP43,840.
The yield on Colombia’s benchmark 2020 bond closed at 7.251% after opening at 7.280%.