By Richard Mann, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The U.S. currency rose yesterday 0.52 percent and peaked at R$4.0217, the highest closing level since October 1st (R$4.0174).
For the year, the dollar has increased its value by 3.16 percent.
Uneasiness permeated the stock market, too. The Ibovespa, the main index of B3 (former São Paulo Stock Exchange), ended the day with a 0.51 percent drop to 91.623 points, the lowest level in four and a half months since January 3rd. At that time, the index had closed at 91.564 points.
The day before, Minister Paulo Guedes admitted that the economy is at the “bottom of the well” and that the forecast for GDP growth this year fell to 1.5 percent.
According to the Economic Activity Index (IBC-Br), a sort of “preview” for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), released by the Central Bank this Wednesday, the Brazilian economy recorded a contraction of 0.68 percent in the first quarter of 2019.
In the international scenario, sales in the United States fell 0.2 percent in April. Simultaneously, sales and industrial production in China decelerated.
These two countries are experiencing an escalation of trade tensions after the United States overtaxed Chinese products by US$200 billion.
Earlier this week, the Asian country announced that it will apply tariffs of US$60 billion in U.S. goods as of June.