Argentine presidential candidate for the La Libertad Avanza alliance Javier Milei speaks to supporters after winning the presidential election runoff at his party headquarters in Buenos Aires on November 19, 2023. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP)
Buenos Aires: Argentina's stock market rose 20 percent at the open on Tuesday, in its first reaction to the resounding election win by libertarian Javier Milei.
The rise was led by state oil company YPF whose shares rose 34 percent after the president-elect announced he would privatize it as part of his package of reforms.
On Monday YPF shares listed on Wall Street were up 40 percent at closing.
Monday, the day after the election, was a public holiday in Argentina, delaying the market reaction.
Milei, a 53-year-old economist and outsider, trounced Argentina's long-dominant Peronist coalition as voters punished the government for decades of economic decline, with annual inflation at 143 percent.
Milei has vowed to ditch the currency, the peso, for the US dollar and shut down the Central Bank -- which he accused of rampant money printing to finance government overspending -- in a bid to halt the inflation.
During his campaign he said he would take a chainsaw to state spending and ditch about 10 government ministries, among other controversial proposals.
The country is now holding its breath as to what he will really do once he takes office on December 10, with little legislative power.
