Markets are all about the timing – and Argentina got clocked

Mauricio Macri gambled on IMF rescue package shoring up currency - but dealers saw it as a sign of weakness

Timing is everything in financial markets. And Argentina's embattled president, Mauricio Macri, just got it spectacularly wrong.

Late on Wednesday, it emerged that Macri had asked the International Monetary Fund to speed up the disbursement of its $50bn (38bn) rescue package for South America's second biggest economy. Coming at the end of a day that had seen the peso fall heavily against the US dollar, the announcement was intended to shore up confidence.

What is the IMF?

Related: Argentina raises interest rates to 60% to shore up peso