The dollar was slightly higher against the real this Thursday (21), with market participants awaiting the monetary policy decision of the ECB (European Central Bank), to be announced at 9:15 am (GMT), which should bring the first eurozone interest rate hike in more than a decade.
Investors were also waiting for the meeting of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, next week, and keeping an eye on the domestic policy agenda.
At 9:02 am (GMT), the spot dollar advanced 0.24%, at R$5.4737 on sale.
On B3, at 9:02 am (GMT), the first-maturity dollar futures contract dropped 0.03% to R$5.4850.
The day before, the dollar operated on a firm high against the real throughout the trading session, closing with gains of 0.79%, at R$ 5.4620, the highest value since January 24 (R$ 5.506), in a session of greater caution in the main global stock exchanges, with market agents attentive to the monetary policy decision in Europe scheduled for this Thursday (21).
On the local Stock Exchange, after closing higher in the last three trading sessions, the Ibovespa closed the session on Wednesday (20) practically stable. The index ended business with a slight increase of 0.04%, at 98,286 points, clashing with its peers in the United States, driven by technology stocks.
The local stock market felt the brunt of the strong fall in Vale’s shares, which fell 2.16%. The company released second-quarter iron ore production data that came in below market analysts’ expectations.
Investors attentive to monetary policy decision in Europe
In the international market, most European stock exchanges closed the last session in the negative field, with investors awaiting the monetary policy decision by the ECB (European Central Bank) this Thursday. London’s FTSE-100 dropped 0.44%, Paris’ CAC-40 dropped 0.27% and Frankfurt’s DAX lost 0.20%.
The market’s majority expectation indicates a 0.50 percentage point hike in the Old Continent’s basic interest rate, the first since 2011, in order to contain the strong inflationary pressure in the region.
Rising gas and food prices last month pushed British inflation to its highest rate in 40 years, according to official figures that heightened the odds of a rare 0.5 percentage point interest rate hike by the Bank. from England next month.
The National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday that annual British consumer price inflation rose in June to 9.4%, the highest since February 1982, from 9.1% in May and above expectations of 9.3% in a Reuters poll of economists.
The reading means the UK has had the highest inflation rate seen in any advanced G7 economy since 1985, although many smaller European Union countries are currently seeing even faster growth in prices.
Stocks in the United States had a positive day on Wednesday, boosted by technology stocks.
The positive highlight was the Nasdaq technology exchange, which recorded gains of 1.58%. The broader S&P 500, on the other hand, advanced 0.59%, while the Dow Jones appreciated 0.15%.
Among the biggest gains of the day in the US market, Netflix shares emerged, up about 7.4%, after the company projected that its customer base will grow again during the third quarter, after registering a drop of 1 million. of subscribers in the second quarter.
Vale’s production data frustrates analysts
In the local market, Vale reported on Tuesday night (19) that it produced 74.108 million tons of iron ore in the second quarter of this year, down 1.2% compared to the same period in 2021.
Vale also updated its production forecast to between 310 million and 320 million tons, against a previous expectation of 320 million to 335 million tons for 2022, “to ensure greater flexibility in our production due to current market conditions”.
“Vale recorded a quarter with numbers that, for the most part, disappointed our forecasts”, pointed out analysts at brokerage Ativa in a report.
They also said that they expected the miner to update its production forecast just a little further along the second half of the year. “The fact of anticipating its reduction, however, is not impressive, since it would be difficult for Vale to accelerate its production pace during the second half of the year in the current situation.”
Still in the commodities sector, Petrobras shares closed with no defined trend, with an increase of 0.85% in common shares and a drop of 0.03% in preferred shares. On Tuesday, the company announced an average reduction of 4.9% in the price of gasoline.
with Reuters
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