Buenos Aires Stock Exchange closes with a 2.98% rise

Argentina's stock market experienced a significant upswing on July 22, 2026, with the S&P Merval index closing up 2.98% at 3,379,771.44 units. This positive performance was largely driven by investor optimism following a recent upgrade of Argentina's sovereign debt rating by Moody's.

The rating agency elevated Argentina's long-term debt ratings to B3, a speculative grade, from Caa1 (high credit risk). Crucially, Moody's also shifted the outlook from 'stable' to 'positive,' signaling a more favorable view of the country's creditworthiness. The general S&P BYMA index also saw a healthy increase, rising 2.77% to 142,206,008.64 points.

Among the leading stocks, Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos and Loma Negra shares saw the most substantial gains, both climbing 5.7%. Conversely, Ternium was the only major stock to experience a decline, with its shares falling 1.5%. In the bond market, Argentine dollar-denominated sovereign bonds traded higher, with some seeing gains of up to 0.5%, and the country's risk index decreased to 410 basis points.

The financial markets' positive reaction extended to currency trading. The US dollar saw a slight increase against the Argentine peso, trading at 1,505 pesos for selling in the state-run Banco Nación and 1,482 pesos in the official market. The parallel 'blue' dollar also rose by 10 pesos to 1,555 pesos for selling. However, the 'contado con liquidación' (CCL) rate, used for converting pesos to dollars via stock market transactions, fell to 1,564.84 pesos, while the 'dólar bolsa' or 'MEP' rate saw a modest increase of 0.2% to 1,513.61 pesos.