By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The dollar ended with a fall of 0.67 percent on Thursday, after closing high five sessions in a row. However, it still closed relatively high against the Brazilian Real, at R$1.91. The main Stock Exchange index in São Paulo, Brazil’s economic powerhouse – the Bovespa – had opened the day on an upward trend, but then closed down 0.51 percent, at 62,104 points.
The dollar had risen some 2.3 percent in the past five days, and experts now believe its value against the real should slide back to around R$1.88, after months of gains.
On Wednesday the dollar reached at R$1.93 – its highest point against the real since mid-2009.
“[The Bovespa] ended up following the U.S. market, which fell due to bad employment figures and poor results in the services industry, but among those rallying were construction companies and retailers, which are benefiting from falling interest rates,” WinTrade analyst Bruno Gonçalves told O Globo newspaper, also blaming an “uncertain outlook” in Europe for poor results there.
A number of more substantial Bovespa shares also closed down, particularly Brazilian oil giants Petrobras and OGX Petroleo, whose share price was down 2.72 percent and 1.78 percent respectively, despite recent good news about the industry’s future prospects.
Losses were also seen in the banking sector, with Banco do Brasil (Bank of Brazil) reporting that its 2012 first quarter figures were 14.7 percent down on the same period last year.
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