Argentine assets cheer Milei's election victory with massive rally

By Rodrigo Campos and Libby George

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Argentina's bonds, stocks and currency surged on Monday after President Javier Milei's party won an overwhelming victory in a Sunday midterm election, a key requisite to keep economic reforms on track and a U.S. financial backstop in place.

International bonds rallied between 10 and 15 cents each, local stocks jumped over 20% and the peso strengthened more than 10% to the dollar, setting up for one of its strongest sessions on record.

Official results in Argentina's Sunday legislative elections show voters strongly backed Milei's free-market reforms and deep austerity measures, with inflation falling sharply since he took office nearly two years ago.

The unexpectedly strong showing came after the U.S. pledged a combined $40 billion to support Milei- a $20 billion central bank swap line and a potential $20 billion loan facility - and implied the backing was contingent on Milei's reform agenda.

"His victory was so, so much larger than expected," said Thierry Larose, portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management. "Previously he was in a state of survival, and now he's ... in a very strong position to try to form tactical alliances and push some reforms that were completely out of reach."

ARGENTINE ASSETS RALLY

The president's party, La Libertad Avanza, received 41.5% of the vote in Buenos Aires province compared with 40.8% for the opposition Peronist coalition, according to official results. The province has long been a Peronist stronghold, marking a dramatic political shift. Nationally, LLA took over 40% of the vote, a much better-than-expected result.

"Critically, Milei’s victory speech was notably moderate and cooperative, signaling willingness to work with non-LLA legislators on reforms," Christine Reed, emerging market fixed income portfolio manager at Ninety One, said in a note.

The country's international dollar bonds were up 10-15 points in early trading, reversing recent weakness and placing the 2038 maturity at around 74 cents on the dollar.

U.S.-listed shares of Argentine companies also surged, with financial shares rising up to 50% and the Global X MSCI Argentina ETF adding 22%, after falling 10.2% year-to-date through Friday. Stocks traded on U.S. exchanges jumped 40%.

FASTER REFORMS, CLEARER PATH

The results could clear the way for Milei to speed up one of the most ambitious economic overhauls in the cash-strapped and inflation-ridden country's recent history.

Investors also pointed to Milei's victory speech, which adopted a more conciliatory tone and could help him build the alliances he will still need to get reforms across the line.

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Argentina's assets have been on a rollercoaster ride since Milei's party suffered a wider-than-expected defeat in a provincial vote in Buenos Aires last month.

The peso had weakened some 25% since mid-April's partial scrapping of foreign exchange controls, and close to 30% since the start of the year.

It strengthened more than 10% to the dollar in the week after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced U.S. support for the Argentine economy in late September, but has since weakened again. On Friday, it touched a record closing low of 1,491.50 per dollar.

Argentina's international dollar bonds are among the worst-performing emerging market high-yielders this year, down nearly 10% year-to-date. They returned more than 100% to investors last year.

The local stock benchmark last month touched its lowest in a year. While it has since risen more than 20%, it is down nearly 30% from a record high set in January.

Now, the stronger position for Milei's party in the legislature will encourage more investment, investors have said, as electoral risk recedes. It also boosts hopes for reform-minded candidates even in the next general ballot in 2027.

"The midterms yesterday just give a longer horizon for potential foreign investments, both in financial assets and in real assets," said Graham Stock, senior sovereign strategist with RBC BlueBay Global Asset Management.

While some still anticipate a reform to the foreign exchange framework that would encourage the accumulation of reserves, with a wider band or a free float of the peso among the options, confidence in Milei's reform outlook could naturally strengthen the currency, RBC's Stock said.

Carmen Altenkirch, an emerging markets sovereign analyst at Aviva Investors, said the results could kick off a "virtuous cycle" in which locals begin selling dollars again.

"I think a stronger exchange rate is feasible," Stock said, adding that depleted dollar reserves were a key weakness.

"They need to take advantage of peso strength to buy up dollars and build those reserves up, which they can do with the current regime," he said.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos. Additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed. Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Mark Potter and Nick Zieminski)

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