The Colombian peso strengthened to its highest level since August 2008 on investors’ renewed risk appetite.
The peso Friday closed at 1,949.56 Colombian pesos to the dollar from COP1,965 Thursday. Friday’s close was the strongest level since Aug. 29, 2008.
“Investors showed more appetite for stocks, things are getting better so they take more risk,” said Jaime Rodriguez, a market analyst with local brokerage Asesores en Valores SA. “It’s happening everywhere, it’s a global phenomenon,” he added.
In the stock market, the IGBC index rose 1.4% to 10,913.64 points, its highest level since Dec. 6, 2007.
The preferred shares of Colombia’s largest bank Bancolombia SA rose 1.6% to COP19,260, while shares of state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol SA rose 0.9% to COP2,695.
Shares of state-controlled telephone company Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota SA, or ETB, fell 6.5% to COP1,150 after the company announced it delayed the partial privatization of the company to December from October.
The yield on the Colombian benchmark 2020 bond rose to 9.52% from 9.484%.