On a day of tensions in the domestic market, the Brazilian real was out of step with the international scenario and lost value against the US dollar, which approached R$5.40.
The Brazilian Stock Exchange (B3) fell for the third consecutive day and annulled the previous week’s gains.
The commercial dollar closed Wednesday, October 26, sold at R$5.382, up R$0.065 (+1.22%).
The quotation opened in a fall, falling to R$5.29 in the first hour of trading, but reversed the movement and started to rise, closing at the maximum of the day.
The US currency is at its highest level since September 30, the last business day before the first round of the presidential elections.
With today’s performance, the dollar accumulated a drop of only 0.22% in October. This week alone, the currency has risen 4.52%.
INSTABILITY
In the stock market, the day was also marked by instability. The Ibovespa index, from B3, closed at 112,764 points, down 1.62%.
The indicator was down throughout the session, driven by shares of state companies, retailers, and banks. The stock market accumulated a loss of almost 6% in the week.
The tensions associated with the electoral campaign once again dominated the market.
The dollar fell against the major currencies because of expectations that the US economy has finally slowed down.
It reduces pressure for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise interest rates higher than forecast.
Higher rates in advanced economies stimulate capital flight from emerging countries like Brazil.
Increases lower than expected help to keep foreign resources, reducing the pressure on the stock market and the exchange rate.
However, the Brazilian financial market traditionally faces volatility in the days before elections.
Brazilian investors were also under the expectation of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) meeting, which maintained the Selic rate (basic interest rate of the economy) at 13.75% per year.
At the highest level since 2017, the Selic has helped to hold back the flight of foreign capital.
With information from Reuters