The purchase of Chilean shares is red hot. The main benchmark The Santiago Stock Exchange broke one barrier after another in this Tuesday’s session and even touched the 11,000 point mark and then consolidated its second record of 2026.
The S&P IPSA closed at 10,927.79 thanks to a strong advance of 2.2% on the dayand after playing a historic noon peak of 10.996,34 whole. These are two days of strong increases that have made the Chilean selective rise 4.8% – its best pair of sessions since September 2022 –and with which it accumulates unprecedented maximums in the course of the new year.
Adjusted for exchange rate, the IPSA registered a jump of 3.5% thanks to the strong appreciation of the Chilean peso, and with this it boasted the second best global return in dollars, according to Bloomberg’s ranking of primary indices.
New stellar year?
“The IPSA is benefiting from a widespread risk appetite in global stock markets, and particularly from favorable prospects in Latin America. On the other hand, copper futures exceeded US$6 per pound, which has positive implications for local activity if these price levels can be sustained over time,” he told DF he Chief Investment Strategist at Sura Investments, Ariel Nachari.
Chile achieved the best stock market performance in Latin America, closely followed by the Peru Select (2,1%)then the Colombian Colcap (2%) and further back the Brazilian Bovespa (1,1%). The Mexican market had no variation and the Argentine market fell slightly.
At the close of Wall Street, The Dow Jones grew 1% and the S&P 500 advanced 0.6%, both reaching all-time highs. The technological Nasdaq (0,7%) I would have to continue climbing to get back to the records. Previously, in Europe, London’s FTSE 100 added 1.2% and the continental Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.1%both reaching new highs.
Fernando Slebe, Patrimore Investment Managermaintained that “in general terms, the rise in the IPSA responds to internal catalysts, but amplified by external factors”, taking into account that “at the start of 2026, China has reinforced a more proactive macro policy bias and a focus on innovation, which re-boosts the investment narrative associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI), electrification and energy transition.”
This translates into a greater appetite for critical raw materials such as copper, and to this is added a more appreciated Chilean peso, favored by a weaker global dollar and by the currency itself. rally of copper, which “would be improving local financial conditions in the face of a new Government, and thus ends up sustaining the progress of the IPSA,” explained the executive.
In Asian markets, Mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 1.6% to its highest level since early 2022, Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.3% to regain record highs, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.4%.
Cencosud (4.2%) y SQM-B (4,1%) They not only led the increases in the Chilean selective, but also provided solid support, due to their high internal weighting. and the $290 billion traded in domestic stocks far exceeded last year’s average ($190 billion).
How does the strengthening of copper support the Chilean stock market? “Although there are no companies directly related to copper in the IPSA, the greater fiscal solidity associated with the income from a better copper price and the probability of a greater appetite for investments in the mining and energy sector are factors powerful enough to see this rally metal as one of the drivers of this positive start to the year at IPSA,” he explained he head of Equity Chile at Santander Asset Management, Héctor Godoy.
As a backdrop, the incursion of the United States into Venezuela, with the capture of Nicolas Maduro and the promise of a transition supervised by the North American power. Although they also evaluate the long periods that an economic reactivation of the Caribbean country would require, and the uncertainty associated with this process.
According to Godoy, “the probability that oil supply will increase in the medium term could have a relevant effect on global inflation, creating even more space for central banks to continue with their expansive monetary policy, and thus benefiting risk assets such as stock markets.”
Nachari estimated that the fever of stock purchases in Latin America “has more to do with the fact that the region continues to offer attractive valuations, good growth prospects, in addition to benefiting from the rise in raw materials. The political factor plays its role, with expectations of a turnaround in Brazil, in addition to rate cuts.”
