Bloomberg Línea — With U.S. markets closed for Martin Luther King Day, Colombia’s stock market put in the best performance in Latin America, driven by the shares of companies that form part of Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño (GEA), Nutresa (NUTRESA), Sura (GRUPOSUR) and Argos (GRUPOARG).
The MSCI COLCAP, the main index on the Colombian exchange, had its highest daily gain in almost two years, closing the day’s trading with a 6.31%, advance, the sharpest rise since March 2020.
Grupo Nutresa’s and Grupo Argos’ shares led the day’s gains after Grupo Gilinski put forward a new takeover bid for Grupo Sura on January 14, following those already made for the same company and for Nutresa.
Grupo Gilinski, headed by brothers Jaime and Gabriel Gilinski, who also own the GNB Sudameris bank, now own 27.6% of Nutresa’s shares and 25.25% of Sura.
Mexico’s stock exchange had the second best performance of the region on Monday, with a 0.42% gain.
Shares of Carlos Slim’s bank Inbursa (GFINBURO) rose, as well as those of Banorte (GFNORTEO) after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would like a Mexican to purchase the retail operations of Citigroup in Mexico, following Citigroup’s announcement it will sell the brand earlier this month, Bloomberg reported.
Globally, oil prices continue to approach historic highs, with Brent remaining above $86 per barrel, close to its highest level since 2014, thanks to a better outlook for crude demand amid containment of the Omicron variant. WTI was trading above $85.
“On the demand side, the cold winter in North America is one of the major factors. Mild omicron symptoms and hopes that the rapid rise in cases is about to abate also contributed to the strength.” Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd., told Bloomberg.
Bitcoin (XBT) failed to recover on Monday afternoon, with a 2.3% drop to $42,087.88.
