RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The traditional caution before the decision on the Central Bank‘s monetary policy showed up in the trading session on Tuesday, February 1, but a greater force moved the business on B3.
In the absence of a full agenda and major economic indicators, the movement of foreign investors was once again the big star of the day. The search for bargains is still intense, and today it was the turn of commodities to shine, pushing the Ibovespa upwards.
The mining and steel sector led the positive movement, even though investors are without the reference of the Qingdao ore quotation, with negotiations paralyzed due to the Chinese New Year’s holiday.
The beginning of the day was unstable, but the foreign flow gained steam throughout the day, ensuring a rise of 0.97%, at 113,228 points. The spot dollar followed its downward movement seen in recent weeks. The American currency fell 0.62%, to R$5.2728. The yield curve flattened again due to the dismantling of positions before the consensus of a high of 150 basis points for tomorrow’s meeting.
D-DAY EVE
The first day of the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) meeting started on Tuesday. It brought some caution, which helped to contain the Ibovespa’s advance during most of the day, even though the general expectation of the analysts is for an increase of 150 basis points.
The Selic goes from 9.25% to 10.75% per year. Inflation closed 2021 above 10%, and the center of the Central Bank’s target for this year is 3.5%, with a tolerance of 1.5 percentage points, which puts the target ceiling at 5%.
DRIVEN BY EXPECTATIONS
While investors abroad are waiting for the release of the payroll data, the report of the American labor market, to be released on Friday, February 4, the stock markets operated unstable this afternoon.
What gave breath to business was the positive closing of the European stock exchanges and the optimistic expectation for the release of balance sheets of large technology companies. The Nasdaq advanced 0.75%, while the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 rose 0.69% and 0.78%, respectively.
UP AND DOWN THE IBOVESPA:
The inflow of foreign investors favored commodity companies, but the day’s lead remained with Banco Inter. Analysts at JP Morgan changed their recommendation to buy, citing as positive the company’s approach to increasing the product rate.
Among the most significant falls, one can mention the shares of Banco Pan. In a report released today, analysts at Bradesco BBI downgraded the recommendation for the papers and the target price, citing the difficulties the company should face in the short term.