Argentine stocks crept up to a new all-time high on Wednesday on optimism over the number of creditors who signed up for the government's mammoth debt swap in the first three weeks, traders said. The MerVal index of the 12 leading stocks rose 0.3 percent to 1,484.60 points, touching a new record high for the fifth straight session and accumulating a gain of 7.9 percent since the start of this year. Volume was the heaviest since December 2003 at $58.4 million.
On Tuesday, Argentina said in a fax to Italian securities regulator Consob that creditors holding $34.65 billion of its debt in default had signed up for the swap offer in the first three weeks.
That figure is 42 percent of the $81.8 billion of debt in default but if compared to the total debt of $102.6 billion, which includes past due interest, it is closer to a 35 percent estimate given by Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna on Monday.
There was some market confusion over how to interpret the data earlier in the session, leading the MerVal to dip first and then rebound.
The advances were lead by energy group Petrobras Participaciones, up 1.64 percent to 3.70 pesos, and food group Molinos, which climbed 1.54 percent to 5.93 pesos.
Of the decliners, Transportadora de Gas del Sur was off 1.16 percent to 3.40 pesos.
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