Colombia Stocks Fall on Nutresa, Ecopetrol; Peso Gains

Colombia stocks fell tuesday as investors sold shares of top food producer Nutresa (NUTRESA.BO) and state oil company Ecopetrol (ECOPETROL.BO, EC).

The Colcap index, the benchmark for the Colombian Stock Exchange, declined 0.8% to end at 1,673.75 points.

Shares of Nutresa fell nearly 1% to end at COP20,600, while Ecopetrol's stock price fell 0.7% to COP5,390 despite higher global prices for oil.

The Colombian peso strengthened amid the higher oil prices to close at COP1,814.84 to the dollar, from COP1,820.89 in the previous session. 

The gains in the local currency come on the heels of a week of declines in the peso that were largely the result of government intervention in which authorities bought $300 million in the foreign exchange market for the purpose of driving the currency lower to help Colombian exporters be more competitive.

The yield on Colombia's peso-denominated bond due July 2.024 closed at 6.612%, after ending the previous session at 6.580%.