In 2023, Bitcoin emerged as the leading investment, outperforming others with a significant year-end increase of 153.47%.
This surge included an 11.30% rise in December, highlighting the cryptocurrency’s robust growth throughout the year.
Following closely, Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDRs), representing shares of international companies in Brazil, recorded the second-best performance.
They saw a 26.33% growth over the year, including a positive change of 2.84% in December.
Government bonds, specifically Tesouro IPCA with a 2035 maturity and Tesouro Selic 2025, also showed noteworthy gains.
They rose by 19.80% and 13.16%, respectively, surpassing the preliminary inflation rate of 4.72%, measured by the IPCA-15.
Gold, another asset beating the preliminary inflation rate, grew by 13.67% over the year and increased by 0.90% in December.
However, the Index of Investment Funds experienced mixed fortunes, growing 15.50% in 2023 but facing a sharp decline in December.
Contrarily, the U.S. dollar saw the least favorable performance among investors in 2023, falling by 8.06%. It ended the year valued at R$ 4.85, indicating a notable depreciation.
The Ibovespa, the main index of the B3 São Paulo Stock Exchange, also showed strong performance.
It closed at 134,185.24 points, up by 22.28% from the end of 2022. Its peak was on December 27th, reaching an all-time high of 134,193.72 points.
Brazil’s economic confidence improved significantly as indicated by the country’s risk measured through the 5-year Credit Default Swap (CDS).
It dropped to 132 points, a decrease of 117.86% for the year, reflecting increased confidence in Brazil’s economic prospects.
This decline in the CDS index underlines a more optimistic view of Brazil’s economy amidst the varying performances of different investment assets.