Dollar closes February down 2.82%; registers 4th straight monthly drop

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The commercial dollar closed up again Friday, February 25, rising 0.99%, to R$5.156, as the local market took off from its peers. The trend was cautious, with investors seeking protection before the Carnival holiday, which will paralyze trading on the B3 for 4 days.

The price was also pressured by the formation of the Ptax, the exchange rate calculated by the Central Bank and used as a reference for contracts in dollars. The Ptax is calculated daily, but is typically more volatile in the month’s last trading session because this last Ptax will be used for foreign exchange contracts for the coming month.

The dollar’s rise on Friday compounded the previous day’s 2% jump. The currency has thus surged 3.13% in 2 days, the steepest pace in the comparison since July 2021. It was enough for the currency to offset its losses in the week and close the period up 0.28%. It is the first time since the week ended January 7 that the dollar has accumulated a weekly gain.

The currency eased its losses in February to 2.82%. In any case, it is the first time the dollar has lost value in the month since 2017. This is the sharpest drop since 2010 (-4.66%).

With the result, the dollar has now dropped against the Brazilian real for the fourth month, down 8.61% in the period. It is the longest negative streak for the American currency since the last four months of 2009, when global markets were trying to recover from the chaos triggered by the great financial crisis that erupted the previous year.