The dollar closed the day with a significant drop of 2.14% – the biggest since December 2021 – and was quoted at R$ 4.9625. The variation is mainly due to an international movement of devaluation of the dollar. A new supply of liquidity from the local monetary authority on the foreign exchange market also helped fuel the dollar’s losses, according to traders.
There was also an adjustment of the dollar’s fall against most currencies of emerging countries, especially the South African rand and Mexican and Chilean pesos, which had suffered yesterday (2) with the soaring of the US currency to close to the largest levels in 20 years.
The devaluation of the dollar is also influenced by the meeting of the US Central Bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), which should announce another interest rate hike in the United States. According to the international news agency Reuters, the rise should be another 0.5%. On a cumulative basis, the US interest rate is expected to end the year between 3 and 4% – the highest since 2000.
In Brazil, Wednesday will also have announcements that will affect the economy. The Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) will announce the revision of the basic interest rate (Selic), which currently stands at 11.75%. The expectation is for an increase of one percentage point.
On the stock exchange, the main Brazilian index, the Ibovespa, closed slightly lower after fluctuation, with cautious investors in the period leading up to the economic decisions of Brazil and the United States. The Ibovespa dropped 0.1%, to 106,528.09 points – third consecutive low. The volume of the session was R$ 23.3 billion.
*With information from Reuters.
