Buenos Aires Herald 
Analysts in Argentina’s financial markets were scratching their heads on Tuesday morning, when the closely-monitored country risk index briefly plummeted below 500 basis points at the start of trading.
This abrupt drop prompted Argentina’s Economy Ministry to clarify that the figure was incorrect. Later in the day, J.P. Morgan, the bank that produces the index, admitted the thunderous decline was an error and adjusted the value by the market’s close.
The index had already slid below the 600-point threshold for the first time in six years on Monday. Then, early on Tuesday, Reuters reported that it had fallen further, to 444 basis points, marking a 125-point drop.
The announcement came just two days before Argentina is set to make a US$4.3 billion payment on its public debt. The drastic decline sparked optimism in the market, but the excitement proved short-lived. Felipe Núñez, head of financial analysis at the Economy Ministry, quickly clarified that the drop was a mistake.
The official explanation: a misalignment
Núñez explained on X: “This was due to a price misalignment related to the (imminent) payment of bond coupons and principal. Evidently, there’s an error in the index. Patience! With macroeconomic order, we’ll eventually reach these levels.”
Federico García Martínez, an economist at the University of La Plata, also posted on X, calling it “an error by J.P. Morgan that doesn’t account for T+1 price settlement.” He noted that a similar incident occurred in July, when the index fell by 7.7% in one day before rebounding by 6.4% the next.
The country risk index measures the performance of Argentine bonds against U.S. Federal Reserve bonds, reflecting the interest premium Argentina must pay on its debt compared to the United States.
J.P. Morgan’s correction
During the trading session, J.P. Morgan acknowledged that a “technical issue” had caused Argentina’s country risk to be inaccurately reflected in real-time data.
The bank later announced that the issue had been resolved. “Real-time pages now show corrected values, and as always, official levels will be published at the end of the day,” the statement read.
By the close of trading, the index had corrected from 444 to 561 basis points, down 1.4% from Monday.