Colombia Peso Gained As Venezuela Concerns Ease; Stks Up

Colombia Peso Gained As Venezuela Concerns Ease; Stks Up

BOGOTA (Dow Jones)--The Colombian peso gained slightly on Friday as concerns about possible trade disruptions with Venezuela eased.

The Colombian peso ended at 2,037.90 to the dollar from COP2,045.30 on Friday amid a session that exchanged $730 million, less than the average $1 billion it trades on a regular day as it is the end of the month.

"Chavez has threatened Colombia many times in the past and nothing has happened. I don't see trade disruptions happening this time because the diplomatic spat is not that severe," said German Grijalba, analyst at Banco Popular.

On Tuesday evening, Chavez froze diplomatic relations with Bogota while threatened Colombian companies on Venezuelan soil with expropriation. He also pledged to break commercial ties if there is any new "aggression" from the neighboring country.

The deteriorating ties follow accusations from top officials in Bogota that Swedish-made rocket launchers sold to Venezuela were found in the hands of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

As a result, Chavez ordered the withdrawal of his ambassador to Bogota.

On the equity market, the IGBC stock index rose 0.6% to 10,329.95 points.

The most-heavily traded stock was state-owned oil company Ecopetrol (EC), which rose 0.4% to COP2,775.

On Friday, crude-oil futures settle at a one-month high as the dollar plunged against major currencies. September settles at $69.45 a barrel, up $2.

Shares of the country's largest cement company Cementos Argos (CEMARGOS.BO) closed 0.6% higher to COP9,100. Shares hit as much as COP9,300 earlier Friday after the company agreed to buy cement grinding stations in Panama and the Caribbean from Switzerland's Holcim Ltd. (HOLN.VX).

Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark local peso-denominated bond, known as TES maturing in 2020 ended at 8.876% from 8.92% on Thursday.