NUAM Collaboration 

The recent U.S. tariff hike, known as "Liberation Day," has put global markets under significant stress. The volatility index (VIX) reached 52 points a few days after President Trump's announcement, equivalent to the figure recorded at the peak of the pandemic in early 2020 and very close to the 59 points it marked during the crisis subprime crisis.

In parallel, the main U.S. index, the S&P 500, touched 4,985 points on April 9 of this year, which is close to the 4,975 points of 12 months ago.

Meanwhile, in some Latin American markets such as the nuam market, which includes the Santiago Stock Exchange (BCS), the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC) and the Lima Stock Exchange (BVL), the effect has been more moderate, especially considering the rally that some indexes had been experiencing.

In Chile, the S&P IPSA reached an all-time high of 7,700 points shortly before the US president's announcement, but fell back to 7,165 points. In Peru, the Peru Select index of the Lima Stock Exchange reached a low of 756 points after climbing to 825 points.

Along the same lines, the performance of the 10 largest companies in the nuam market by market capitalization as of December 2024 as of December 2024, is an example of the resilience of the regional market.

Within these companies, in the case of Colombia, Ecopetrol was the most affected in the first days of the month with a variation of -13.19%, although it began to recover its losses quickly. Grupo Nutresa accumulated a loss of -1.04% in the same period.

In Peru, Southern Copper fell close to 14% after the announcement of the tariffs, Credicorp lost 10% and Minera Cerro Verde registered a decline of -4.76%. Banco de Credito del Peru had a decrease of close to 4.11%.

In Chile, Falabella recorded a monthly accumulated variation of -0.84%, a figure that has been well above Wednesday's close. Enel Américas recorded -3.15% so far this month, but with a sustained rise after the crisis. In contrast, Banco Santander (BSANTANDER) and Banco de Chile (CHILE) maintained positive returns, with +1.28% and +0.79% respectively so far this month.

Despite the highly volatile environment, the performance of the nuam markets reaffirms the idea that Latin America can become a safe haven and investment opportunity when the global economy faces strong pressures. The region's stock markets have shown a faster and less pronounced recovery compared to the U.S. market, supported by companies that, in many cases, have been able to weather global uncertainty thanks to solid fundamentals and a growing regional investor appetite.

As trade tensions continue, it will be key to monitor the evolution of these companies and capital flows in Latin American stock markets, as their performance will continue to provide signals about the strength and resilience of the region in the face of external challenges.

Nuam