The Colombian peso appreciated Wednesday as investors anticipate the flow of foreign direct investment will continue to rise.
The peso strengthened to 1,911 Colombian pesos to the dollar from COP1,919.4 on Tuesday.
“As the economy is growing faster, people are anticipating massive foreign direct investments in the country,” said Julian Cardenas, a market analyst with local brokerage Corredores Asociados.
Colombia received $3.68 billion in foreign direct investment in the first five months of the year, up 14% from $3.22 billion in the same period of 2009, the central bank said Friday.
Of the total foreign direct investment from January through May, $3.25 billion went to the oil and mining industries, up from $2.64 billion in the same period a year earlier.
In the equity market, the IGBC stock index rose for a fifth consecutive day, closing up 0.6% at 12,413.38, while the Colcap index, which includes the largest companies by market capitalization, rose 0.7% to 1,461.39 points.
Shares of oil company Pacific Rubiales Energy (PRE.T) rose 3.8% to COP45,000. The common shares of Colombia’s largest bank, Bancolombia SA (BCOLOMBIA.BO), rose 0.3% to COP23,500.
The yield on the benchmark Colombian peso-denominated government bond, or TES, maturing in 2020, rose to 8.010% from 7.969% Tuesday.
