Argentine Stock Movers: Banco Macro, Petrobras Argentina, Repsol

The following companies are having unusual price changes in Argentine trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are as of 11:54 a.m. New York time.

The Merval Index increased 0.2 percent to 3,463.17.

Banks rose as global stock markets gained after President Barack Obama agreed to extend tax cuts, and the U.S. Treasury sold its remaining stake in Citigroup Inc.

Banco Macro SA (BMA AF), Argentina’s largest lender by market value, jumped 3.2 percent to 21.30 pesos, a record.

Banco Hipotecario SA (BHIP AF), Argentina’s sixth-largest lender by market value, rose 1.3 percent to 3.12 pesos.

Petrobras Argentina SA (PESA AF), the local unit of Brazil’s state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA, rose 3.3 percent to 8.70 pesos. Oil climbed above $90 a barrel to the highest price in two years earlier today.

Repsol YPF SA (YPFD AF) surged 5.2 percent to 172 pesos. Spanish oil company Repsol YPF said its Argentine unit may have found as much as 4.5 trillion cubic feet of unconventional natural gas.

To contact the reporter on this story: Camila Russo in New York at crusso15@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net