Dollar Drops for Third Straight Day, Closing Week Down 4.5 Percent

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The US currency closed down for the third consecutive day and ended the week depreciating by 4.54 percent. On Friday, May 22nd, the dollar fell by 0.2 percent and closed at R$5.574.

On the investors’ radar were the statements from the Central Bank’s economic policy director, Fabio Kanczuk, who, on Friday morning, said that the authority is “very well” prepared to correct distortions in the exchange rate and is cautious about further interest rate cuts.

“This Central Bank is significantly less interventional than it was with other governments. With these statements, it signals that it may intervene if there is a wide variation,” said Fabrizio Valloni, head of the exchange table at Frente Corretora Brokerage firm.

On Wednesday, the Central Bank Chairman Roberto Campos Neto said that the authority could increase its action in the exchange rate “if necessary.”

In yet another volatile session, the dollar turned bullish in the last trading hour, with investors cautious about the content of President Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet meeting recording. According to CNN, Justice Celso de Mello decided to lift the video’s confidentiality.

“The dollar felt it a little, but it was not as bullish. Let’s see the content of all this,” commented Vanei Nagem, an exchange analyst at Terra Investments.

In the morning, the US currency opened on a high, with concerns over China enforcing new national security laws in Hong Kong and exacerbating its already strained relationship with the United States.

The day before, US President Donald Trump said he could respond “strongly” should China go ahead with its plans to enforce national security laws in Hong Kong.

“There is concern that such a decision will once again prompt protests in the region and, above all, jeopardize the first stage of the agreement between the two powers,” Ricardo Filho, an analyst with Correparti, wrote in a note.

Abroad, the dollar gained ground against most of the major emerging currencies, such as the Russian rouble, Turkish lira, and Indian rupee. The DXY index, which measures the dollar’s performance against a range of developed currencies, also climbed.

Source: Exame