On a day of strong nervousness in the international market, the dollar approached R$5, even with the Central Bank (BC) intervening in the exchange rate. The stock market fell for the seventh time in a row and reached the lowest level since the end of January.
The commercial dollar closed this Tuesday (26) sold at R$ 4.991, up by R$ 0.115 (+2.36%). The quotation operated at a high throughout the session and only did not exceed R$ 5 because the BC held an extra auction of US$ 500 million in foreign exchange swap contracts, which are equivalent to the sale of dollars on the futures market.
With today’s performance, the US currency is up 8.04% in just the last three sessions. The currency accumulates a high of 4.83% in April and a fall of 10.49% in 2022.
In the stock market, the day was also marked by volatility. The B3 Ibovespa index closed at 108,213 points, down 2.23%. The indicator followed the North American markets and fell, pulled by shares of Brazilian banks, which reported lower-than-expected profits.
Two factors have contributed to the instability of the global financial market in recent days. The first is the increase in the number of cases of covid-19 in China, which reinforces expectations of a slowdown in the second largest economy on the planet due to the lockdown measures adopted in Shanghai and the possibility that the same will occur in Beijing. This leads to a drop in the price of commodities (primary goods with international prices), many of which are exported by Brazil.
The second factor is recent statements by directors of the Federal Reserve (Fed, Central Bank of the United States) that the agency may increase US basic interest rates beyond what is expected to contain inflation in the country, which is at the highest level in 40 years. . Higher interest rates in the United States encourage capital flight from emerging countries.
US stocks were also affected by expectations of higher interest rates from the Fed. The Dow Jones Industrial Companies Index dropped 2.38% today. The S&P 500, of the top 500 companies, fell 2.81%. The Nasdaq, of technology companies, lost 3.95%.
