Brazil: Ibovespa closes high but dropped 1.86% in the week

On Thursday (20), Ibovespa rose 0.44% and closed at 104,367 points after a session with low trading volume, totaling R$18.4 billion (US$3.64 million).

In the week, there was a drop of 1.86%.

With an empty agenda on the holiday’s eve, the market continues to follow the text of the tax framework being processed in Congress.

Leading the highs, Hapvida and the Soma group rose, respectively, 9.75% to R$2.59 and 5.88% to R$8.11.

According to Rodrigo Azevedo, an economist at GT Capital:

“After a heavy fall the day before due to the bill to regulate the nursing salary floor, today, Rede D’Or and Hapvida’s shares sought recovery and are among the highest rises of the day.”

Rede D’Or rose 3.65% at R$23.00.

On the negative side, Usiminas shares fell 3.62% at R$7.18.

The steelmaker delivered its first quarter balance sheet with a profit 57% lower than a year ago.

According to the report, the company expects “tighter margins” in the second quarter against higher raw material costs and a demand for steel pressured by credit constraints and high interest rates.

Another highlight of the day were Light’s shares, which closed with a drop of 1.42% before the news that the energy company is considering seeking judicial recovery.

However, the mechanism is prohibited for energy distributors.

Currently, the company has more than R$11 billion (US$2.18 billion) in debt.

In the United States, Wall Street’s major indexes pulled back amid a series of poor first-quarter company balance sheets, with the most attention on Tesla’s numbers.

The company posted a 22% lower profit in the first quarter after cutting prices on its electric cars to increase its market share against competitors.

Statements from members of the Federal Reserve are also on investors’ radar, with the US central bank’s leaders reinforcing a stance of tightening interest rates for longer, adding to concerns about a possible recession in the country.

The Dow Jones fell 0.33% to 33,786 points, the S&P closed with a 0.60% loss at 4,129 points, while the Nasdaq retreated 0.80% to 12,059 points.

In Europe, stock markets closed lower for the second consecutive session after disappointing corporate balance sheets.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said inflation in the eurozone is too high and that the ECB’s monetary policy “still has a long way to go” to bring inflation to its 2% target.

With information from Reuters