Vote shock has markets scrambling for Milei clues

Wall Street is preparing for Argentina’s presidential election to come down to a November run-off after libertarian outsider Javier Milei won surprisingly strong support in a primary vote.  The nation’s already-distressed foreign bonds plunged Monday after Milei, who is running on a platform of dollarizing the economy and “burning down” the central bank, captured about a third of votes cast in the primary election on Sunday.  To cope with the pressure, the government — which has long been chipping away at reserves to defend the currency in a bid to stem inflation — caved in, devaluing the official foreign exchange rate by 18%. It also lifted interest rates by 21 percentage points, to 118%.  Argentina’s debt due in 2046 tumbled as much as 4 cents to 28 cents on the dollar. Stocks fared better, with a US-listed ETF rebounding after sinking the most since 2020 earlier in the session.  Here’s what investors and analysts are saying about the outcome of the vote: Alejo Czerwonko and Pedro Quintanilla-Dieck, UBS  Dirk Willer and Ernesto Revilla, Citigroup Gerónimo Mansutti Silva and Matías Bensousan, EMFI Group  Alberto Rojas, Credit Suisse  Pilar Tavella, Barclays Edwin Gutierrez, abrdn Oren Barack, Alliance Global Partners Benito Berber, Natixis Graham Stock, Bluebay Asset Management Juan Pablo Rotger, Banco Mariva Mariano Machado, Verisk Maplecroft Ana Iparaguirre, consulting firm GBAO   -- TIMES/BLOOMBERG by Scott Squires, Bloomberg