The dollar was traded at a slight high against the real at the opening of business this Monday (26), in a trading session that should have reduced liquidity with the markets in the United States and Europe closed for a holiday.
At 9:13 am (Brasília time), the spot dollar advanced 0.4%, at R$ 5.1854 on sale.
In the session on Friday (23), the spot dollar accompanied the day of reduction of risk aversion among investors and retreated 0.36%, to R$ 5.166 on sale, with a weekly drop of 2.4% and 7.5% in the year.
The Brazilian Stock Exchange, on the other hand, operated at a steady rise and ended the last trading session of last week with gains of almost 2%, which represented the fifth day in a row in the positive field.
The Ibovespa stock index closed up 1.99%, at 109,697 points, with an accumulated increase of 6.6% in the week (the highest since the end of October) and 4.6% in the year.
Inflation data referring to the IPCA-15 (National Consumer Price Index-15) below expectations contributed to the movement on Friday.
The IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) reported that inflation measured by the index rose 0.52% in December, ending 2022 with an accumulated advance of 5.90%. Analysts had expected a rise of 0.54% for the month and 5.93% for the year.
Lower-than-expected inflation contributes to a drop in bond rates in the futures interest market, due to the perception of financial agents that the BC (Central Bank) may initiate a reduction in the Selic rate in the face of declining inflationary pressure.
The futures bond maturing in 2024 retreated from 13.66% at the previous close to 13.46%, while the contract for 2026 fell from 12.99% to 12.85%.
The drop in interest rates, in turn, contributed to the notable rise in the shares of consumer and retail companies, which were the ones that suffered the most in recent weeks, when discussions in Brasília about fiscal policy from 2023 led to a strong rate opening.
Among the biggest rises of the day, the shares of Lojas Renner advanced 5.9%, those of Arezzo rose 5% and those of Alpargatas, 4.9%.
Over the past week, the market has closely monitored the processing of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of Spending in Brasília, approved on Wednesday night (21) in a dehydrated version in the Senate.
Appointments of ministers in the elected government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as well as members of the economic team by the future Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, also remained on the market’s radar.
“Brasília was on the radar, with agents monitoring the formation of the ministerial team of the elected government and without effective signs of adjustments to future public accounts”, said João Frota Salles, an analyst at Senso Investimentos.
On the US stock exchanges, the main stock indices closed higher, after data on the US economy indicated a deceleration in inflation, reinforcing the market’s perception that the Federal Reserve (Fed, US central bank) will not have to be as aggressive in raising interest rates.
The S&P 500 was up 0.59%, the Nasdaq was up 0.21% and the Dow Jones was up 0.53%.
The PCE price index, closely watched by the Fed, rose 0.1% last month after advancing 0.4% in October. In the 12 months through November, the index accumulated a high of 5.5%, from 6.1% in October.
On December 14th, the US Central Bank increased its interest rate by 0.50 percentage point, to a range of 4.25% to 4.50%, the highest since the end of 2007. Fed officials predict that the rate increases to between 5.00% and 5.25% next year, a level that could be maintained for some time.
With Reuters
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