Tomorrow is the last day of the S&P Merval: MSCI will start calculating the stock index from Monday

Tomorrow is the last day of the S&P Merval: MSCI will start calculating the stock index from Monday The global firm will be responsible for the stock indicators of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange starting October 19th - 3 minutes reading' This Friday will be the last day of the S&P Merval. Argentine Stock Exchanges and Markets (BYMA) will begin a "strategic collaboration" next Monday with MSCI, the renowned firm that develops some of the most used stock indices in the world. This will be in charge of the administration and calculation of the main stock indicators of the local market starting from the end of the agreement with S&P Dow Jones. Through a statement, BYMA detailed that MSCI will administer and calculate two new reference indices for the Argentine equity market. In this regard, the S&P Merval and the General BYMA Index will be replaced by the MSCI Merval Index and the MSCI BYMA Argentina General Index. Their launch is scheduled for October 19th. This change is part of a transition process resulting from the end of the contract with S&P, which operated these functions since 2018. To guarantee continuity, the company will continue to calculate and publish the current indices until October 16th. Then, MSCI will assume control on Monday, October 19th, the following business day. In any case, no further details have been provided about the process. From BYMA, they indicated that in the coming weeks the detailed transition schedule and the information that market participants will need before that date will be shared. In BYMA, they highlighted that this collaboration allows "to raise the international profile of the Argentine capital market". "Aligning the BYMA reference indices with the global MSCI methodology provides local and international investors with a standardized and widely recognized framework for tracking Argentine equity instruments," they pointed out. And they added: "The collaboration also strengthens the local index ecosystem more broadly, creating a basis for new products, solutions, and initiatives as the Argentine market continues to develop and align with international standards." The specialists agree that this transfer of the calculation of Argentine stock indicators to MSCI implies greater institutionalization and international visibility for the local market. This is because regional and global index funds will have to acquire local shares to replicate the new index, which will mainly benefit Argentine stocks listed on Wall Street (ADRs) with the highest volume that are included in the Merval. It should be clarified that this is not a formal rating change for Argentina within the MSCI universe of emerging markets. In June, the rating agency stated in its annual review that the country is in the standalone category, the lowest in the scheme, without any progress towards the watchlist that the market expected as a sign of a potential reclassification. This is relevant because a better rating would expand the universe of funds enabled to buy local shares and, in general, translates into greater flows to the stock market.