Dollar has little change after approval of the PEC in Congress

The dollar had little variation against the real at the opening of this Thursday (22), with investors digesting the approval of the Gastança PEC in Brasília, approved in the second round in the Chamber in a dehydrated version.

At 9:14 am (Brasília time), the spot dollar advanced 0.03%, to R$ 5.2060 on sale.

On B3, at 9:14 am (Brasília time), the first contract dollar futures contract rose 0.13%, to R$ 5.2115.

In the last session, the spot dollar fluctuated between losses and gains throughout the day to end with a slight drop of 0.09%, at R$ 5.2040 in the sale.

The Brazilian Stock Exchange, on the other hand, registered a slight increase in the trading session on Wednesday (21), with the broad index of Ibovespa having marked a modest appreciation of 0.53%, to 107,433 points, with emphasis on the strong increase above 20% of the shares of the reinsurer IRB.

Despite the approval of the PEC, the uncertainty that still hangs over the conduct of fiscal policy in 2023 keeps investors with a greater tone of caution.

“Our economics team evaluated the changes as positive, but highlights that the fiscal impact is still quite high”, said analysts at XP Investimentos in a report, in which they recall that the rules will be in force for one year, and not two as initially foreseen, and considers an additional BRL 145 billion in the 2023 budget, guaranteeing the payment of Bolsa Família of BRL 600 and an additional BRL 150 per child up to 6 years old.

The project should still allow for other investments of R$ 23 billion outside the spending ceiling.

“Much is said about the term of the license to spend, which was reduced from two to one year. However, they continue to ignore the fact that in six months the executive will have to present a new fiscal anchor, which will replace the ceiling, and may be approved by a supplementary law. In other words, you will not need a license for spending outside the ceiling if the ceiling will not exist in six months, extinguished by a supplementary law, much easier than an amendment to the constitution”, stated the analysts of the Activate Investments.

Among the biggest increases of the day on the stock exchange, the shares of the reinsurance company IRB jumped 25%, after the company disclosed a net profit of R$ 6.4 million in October, reversing the loss of R$ 84.8 million in the same period of the last year. Already in the accumulated of the year, the company accumulates loss of R$ 585 million.

Despite the strong increase, “we still don’t see clear signs for a recovery of the IRB in the short term”, said analyst Gabriel Gracia of Guide Investimentos.

Also among the highlights of the trading session were shares in the health sector, up 6.1% for SulAmérica, 4.5% for Rede D’Or and 1.2% for Qualicorp.

On Monday (19), the ANS (National Supplementary Health Agency) approved the purchase of the insurance company SulAmérica by the health group Rede D’Or, but imposed restrictions on Qualicorp. Rede D’Or has a share of around 29% in Qualicorp.

According to the Guide analyst, the market feared that ANS or CADE (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) would impose some type of restriction that could lead to a reduction in Rede D’Or’s stake in Qualicorp as a way of avoiding any potential Conflict of interests.

The solution found by the ANS that calmed the market was to demand that the representative of Rede D’Or on Qualicorp’s board abstain from voting on matters related to SulAmérica, and that there be no exclusive marketing of SulAmérica’s health plans by Qualicorp or vice -Verse, said Gracia.

In the case of state-owned companies, preferred shares of Petrobras were up 2.1%, on a day of high oil prices abroad, while those of BB (Banco do Brasil) advanced 0.8%.

Future president of the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) in the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Aloizio Mercadante announced this Wednesday the names of seven directors who will occupy positions in the bank, including three women. Former president of BB, Alexandre de Abreu is among the nominees.

On the US stock exchanges, the main stock indices experienced a day of more expressive gains, after having closed slightly higher on Tuesday, with an appreciation of 1.5% for the S&P 500, gains of 1.54% for the Nasdaq and 1 .6% of the Dow Jones.

Coming from a recent trajectory of declines in the wake of signals transmitted by central banks indicating a scenario ahead with new interest rate hikes to combat persistent inflationary pressure, US stocks gain strength after strong numbers reported by Nike.

Shares in the sporting events giant rose about 12% after the company reported on Tuesday a 17% increase in sales in the quarter ended in November, with the trade heated by the end of the year sales, which contributes to highs of other industry stocks — Adidas and Puma were up approximately 6%.

The share of FedEx Corp also rose significantly, with gains of around 3.5%, after the presentation by the delivery company of cutting additional costs in the amount of US$ 1 billion (R$ 5.2 billion).

FedEx saw shares tumble in mid-September after suffering a rapid drop in shipment volumes as macroeconomic trends worsened in the US on the back of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

With Reuters