The Brazilian Stock Exchange began operations this Thursday (24) in a sharp drop after the start of the war in Europe. Russia decided to attack Ukraine, in what Kiev called a total invasion. It is the most serious military crisis in Europe since the Second World War.
At 10:20 am, the Ibovespa dropped 2.33%, to 109,401 points. The day before, the benchmark index of the country’s stock market had already fallen by 0.78%, to 112,007 points, after previous data from the IBGE indicated the highest inflation for February since 2016.
The dollar rose 1.79% at R$5.0930. The beginning of the Russian military offensive caused the global appreciation of the American currency. The dollar is usually more sought after by investors in periods of uncertainty and this explains the appreciation.
This Wednesday (23), the dollar had retreated 0.95%, to R$ 5.0030. This was the lowest price for the American currency since June 30, when it closed at R$4.9720. Also during the Wednesday session, the currency dropped to R$ 4.9940.
Since reaching its peak this year, which was R$5.71 on January 5, the dollar had retreated 12.4% by the end of Wednesday.
Stocks around the world were sinking this morning. The index that tracks the top 50 companies in European countries that use the euro as their currency plunged 4.84%. The London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets were down 3.02%, 4.67% and 5.06% respectively.
In Asia, the main stock indices closed with severe drops. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai/Shenzhen all tumbled by 1.81%, 2.21% and 2.03%, in that order.
The barrel of Brent oil, the world reference for this commodity, rose 7.85% to 104.44, the highest price since 2014.
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