Dollar drops on the day, but moves to 4th consecutive weekly advance

The dollar fell against the real in the first trades this Friday (13), but was still on track to mark its fourth consecutive weekly appreciation, after being supported in recent days by fears about sharper interest rate hikes in the United States and risks of a slowdown in the global economy.

At 9:07 am (GMT), the spot dollar retreated 0.42%, to R$5.1210 on sale, almost 1% above last Friday’s closing level of R$5.0733.

On B3, at 9:07 am (GMT), the first-maturity dollar futures contract dropped 0.22% to R$5.1500.

The dollar traded on the interbank market closed the last session with a negative variation of 0.06%, at R$ 5.1424.

In this trading session, the Central Bank will auction up to 15 thousand traditional foreign exchange swap contracts for the purpose of rolling over the maturity date of July 1, 2022.

The day before, the Stock Exchange maintained the positive tone of the previous session and returned to close higher. The Ibovespa index ended the session on Thursday (12) with an appreciation of 1.24%, at 105,687 points. Since the end of April, the stock index has not recorded two consecutive sessions of gains.

The local market differed from global peers, which hovered around stability, and rose driven by the performance of financial sector stocks.

In exchange, the dollar operated in decline for most of the day against the real, but the movement lost strength in the afternoon, with the currency quoted at R$ 5.1410 at the close of business, a slight drop of 0.07% compared to the previous close.

In the United States, the main stock indices fluctuated without a clear trend – the S&P 500 dropped 0.13% and the Dow Jones dropped 0.33%, while the Nasdaq, with the highest concentration of technology stocks, advanced 0.06%. .

Financial sector pulls Ibovespa up

In the local market, the Ibovespa was boosted this Thursday by the actions of large banks. BB (Banco do Brasil) shares closed up 2.54%, after the bank reported a record net profit of R$ 6.6 billion in the first quarter of 2022, up 35% on an annual basis.

The result exceeded market analysts’ expectations, with profit growth above private peers and a lower default rate.

Itaú shares rose 1.58%, while Bradesco’s shares advanced 0.64%, and BTG Pactual’s, 4.55%. Disagreeing with peers, Santander’s shares fell by 0.4%.

The four large banks jointly reported a net income of R$24.8 billion in the first quarter, which is equivalent to a growth of 13.8% compared to the same period last year.

Among commodity exporters, Petrobras’ common shares ended the session up 0.37%, and preferred shares rose 0.77%, in a session in which the price of oil in international markets marked appreciation around 0, 5%.

In the case of Vale, shares fell 1%, following the fall of iron ore around 3.7% in the international market.

Inflation and interest rates remain on the radar in the US

In the United States, inflation and the risk of a more aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve (Fed, American central bank) remain on investors’ radar.

Inflation data released the day before in the United States, although they registered a strong deceleration in April, compared to March, are still at high levels, keeping investors’ fears about a more aggressive increase in interest rates by the Fed very much alive.

The US consumer price index rose 0.3% last month, the lowest rate since last August. In the 12 months to April, consumer prices rose 8.3%.

“In 12 months, inflation continues to decelerate, a sign that the peak may have passed, but even so, this result reinforces that Americans will still experience high global inflation for an extended period”, point out Guide analysts. investments.

This Thursday, data indicated an increase in applications for unemployment benefits in the United States, although analysts estimate that the job market remains very heated in the country.

with Reuters