Dollar today in Colombia remained on the rise and closed with strong rebounds

The price of the dollar in Colombia experienced a day of ups and downs this Tuesday, January 31, and closed the first month of the year with strong increases in its price, driven by the environment of uncertainty and expectation that prevails among investors, with a view to the results of the meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), which began today and will end tomorrow, Wednesday, with the decision on what will happen to the future of interest rates in the United States and the new measures that will be adopted in the fight against inflation.

According to the reports of the Colombian Stock Exchange, This currency closed with a last price of 4,669 pesos, which marks a growth of 13 pesos and 95 cents compared to the closing values ​​of last Monday, when it was 4,655 pesos with 5 cents. On this occasion, the dollar began with considerable progress in its price, but around 9 in the morning it began to fall until it touched negative ground, and then began to rise steadily.

Likewise, during this day it managed an average price of 4,648 pesos and 62 cents, with which it also exceeds the Representative Market Rate set for this session by the Financial Superintendence at 4,632 pesos and 20 cents, in response to the upturns with which started the week In this way, it is expected that next Wednesday the TRM will remain above the barrier of 4,600 pesos, while what will happen to interest rates in the United States is known.

The Federal Reserve began its first monetary policy meeting of the year on Tuesday and the market expects it to raise its interest rates by a quarter of a point, after signs of cooling in the economy. The meeting will end at noon on Wednesday and the market expects the Monetary Committee to raise its interest rates for the seventh consecutive time, which are currently located in a range of 4.25 to 4.50%.

After several important hikes, of three-quarters of a percentage point and half a percentage point lately, the Fed should return to a smaller and usual increase within its tightening policy, of 25 basis points, the specialists estimate. However, there is a sector of analysts that is more optimistic and even expect these references to remain stable, taking into account that inflation has been correcting downwards for several months.

Reviewing other values ​​reached by the dollar on this occasion, it stands out that throughout the day it reached maximums of 4,689 pesos and 90 cents, while its minimum reached 4,624 pesos; making it clear that it was a day of high fluctuations in the prices of this foreign currency, which For now, it remains at calm levels for investors, although it is moving away from the 4,500-peso barrier. where he was last week.

In the local context, The news of the day is based on the unemployment figures for December in Colombia, revealed by the National Department of Statistics (Dane), according to which the unemployment rate of the national total was 10.3%, while in the same month of 2021 it was 11.1%.

Meanwhile, the overall participation rate was 63.8%, which meant an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to December 2021 (62.5%). Finally, the occupancy rate was 57.3%, which represented an increase of 1.7 percentage points compared to the same month in 2021 (55.5%).

Despite the fact that this closing figure for last year is positive when compared to December 2021, it cannot be overlooked that it also It leaves a disappointment, since the two previous months (October and November) it was at 9.7% and 9.5%, respectively.

This means that the number of unemployed people shows growth in this report and for now the country says goodbye to the single-digit reports that were already showing.

Finally, in all this we must take into account that oil prices fell last Monday for the third consecutive session, in a market that is still waiting for concrete signs of a rebound in the Chinese economy.

The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for March delivery lost 2.03% to $84.90 in London. Meanwhile, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March lost 2.23% to $77.90 in New York.

*With information from AFP.