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Fachada de la Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires junto a operadores que miran pantallas con gráficos rojos en caída y una bandera argentina
La Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires y pantallas en rojo, imagen alusiva al impacto del resultado electoral brasileño en los mercados argentinos. · Erick Prometeo Media

Brazil effect: Argentine markets slide after Lula's runoff win

Lula da Silva's runoff victory in Brazil hit Argentine markets: the Merval fell 3%, Global bonds dropped 2.1%, country risk rose 57 units to 765 points and the…

--- The context --- Brazil's runoff ended with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva winning 51.79% of the vote against 48.21% for Flávio Bolsonaro, with 100 percent of ballot boxes counted in the official results. The outcome immediately reshaped investor expectations for the largest economy in the region and its neighbours. Argentina watched that contest from a particularly sensitive position. Brazil is Argentina's main trading partner and both countries are the largest economies in Mercosur, so a shock to Brazilian assets passes through to local prices. President Javier Milei had also backed Bolsonaro during the campaign, adding a diplomatic question. --- The facts --- At the close, the MSCI Merval index of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange cut 3%, to 99,227 points. Global bonds, dollar-denominated under Argentine law, fell 2.1% on average on Wall Street. Shares and sovereign debt fell together in one broad session of correction across Argentine assets. The JP Morgan country risk index, which measures the spread between United States Treasury bond yields and similar emerging-market issues, rose 57 units for Argentina by 17:10 hours, to 765 basis points. That was its highest level since October 24 last year. The retail dollar gained 10 pesos or 0.7%, to $1,560 for sale, according to the Banco Nación reference, a nominal record, and the blue dollar also gained ten pesos, to 1,575 pesos. On Wall Street, Argentine ADRs sank by up to 8%, led by Mercado Libre stock and the banks. --- The positions --- Flávio Bolsonaro did not concede defeat and announced that he will seek to have the election annulled. He challenged the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court's decision to extend voting hours by two hours, after complaints about voter transport, and argued in attributed terms that the measure broke equality among voters in different states. From financial analysis, Mariano Sardáns of FDI said in remarks reported in the source that a real depreciating 10% against the dollar and a Bovespa falling -15% leave Brazil's stock market, in dollar terms, 25% lower. That scale, attributed to the analyst, helps explain the force of the regional contagion. On the Argentine side there was no official statement after the result. Neither President Milei nor the Foreign Ministry issued any communication on the election, even though Milei actively backed Bolsonaro and launched strong attacks against Lula during the campaign. In July, Brazil had already recalled its ambassador in Buenos Aires for consultations. --- What remains unknown --- It remains unknown how Brazil will process the annulment bid announced by Bolsonaro, what scope that request will have and whether institutions will formally answer the challenges over the voting-hours extension. The first official Argentine reaction is also unknown, as is the tone the bilateral relationship will take between both partners. --- Unanswered questions --- Will Bolsonaro formally file the annulment request and what answer will he receive from the Brazilian authorities? Will Milei's government issue a statement on Lula's victory and in what terms will it do so? Will the Merval and Global bonds recover when markets reopen? How will this scenario affect bilateral trade inside Mercosur? --- EPM analysis --- The contagion was immediate because the transmission channels are concrete: a main trading partner, Argentine companies with decisive revenue in Brazil and sovereign debt sensitive to the external climate. When the real and Brazilian shares fall in dollar terms, investors unwind regional positions as a bloc and punish Argentine assets too. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the session leaves a lesson in interdependence that Argentina cannot avoid: its main trading partner chose a government with which Milei holds an open dispute, and markets have already charged that tension to shares, bonds, the dollar and country risk. The priority now should be to separate campaign confrontation from managing a strategic relationship, because trade, companies exposed to Brazil and local financial stability need diplomatic predictability. If Buenos Aires takes too long to set a clear institutional position, uncertainty will keep trading every day in Argentine prices.
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