President-Elect Milei’s Economic Plans Boost Investor Confidence, YPF Stock Surges by 40% in Argentina

Javier Milei, the presidential candidate of the Liberty Advances coalition, has just arrived in Buenos Aires to vote in the presidential runoff election. His victory caused massive surges in shares of state-owned oil firm YPF, rising 40% the following Monday. During his campaign, Milei pledged to reform the Argentine economy and expressed a desire to privatize YPF.

On Monday after his win, YPF saw its New York-listed shares spike more than 40%. The stock hovered at $14.90, up 38.82% on that same day. Milei, a right-wing libertarian candidate, secured his win by a wider margin than expected. He has promised to revitalize the ailing Argentine economy, promoting the use of the US dollar domestically and mentioning potential sales of YPF and other state-controlled companies to improve public accounts. In a radio interview, the president-elect stated his administration will “create value” for companies to be sold beneficially for Argentines.

Milei’s victory has also led to gains in other Argentina-related equities like Grupo Financiero Galicia, Banco Macro and Global X MSCI Argentina ETF. Milei expressed his commitment to ending the “model of decadence” in a post-election speech, suggesting change is imminent. As he moves forward with his economic plan involving prioritizing the US currency over the local peso to help mitigate historic inflation, investors and markets will closely watch the exchange rate between the peso and the dollar.