On a day of worries about the war between Russia and Ukraine, the dollar rose after two consecutive drops, but remained below R$ 5.10 and ended the week with a fall. The stock market crashed in the wake of the attack on Europe’s biggest nuclear plant by Russian forces.
The commercial dollar ended this Friday (4th) sold at R$5.078, up by R$0.05 (+1%). At the peak of the day, around 1:30 pm, the price reached R$ 5.10, but slowed down throughout the afternoon, with inflows driven by the rise in the price of commodities (primary goods with international quotation).
Despite today’s high, the dollar closed the week – shorter because of Carnival – with a drop of 1.51%. In 2022, the currency accumulates a decline of 8.93%. This year, the real is having the best performance among the main currencies against the dollar.
tension day
In the stock market, the day was also tense. The B3 Ibovespa index closed the day at 114,474 points, down 0.6%. The fall was driven by bank shares, with shares of oil companies, mining companies and other exporters of commodities rising and preventing a further retreat of the index.
The Russian offensive against a nuclear plant in northern Ukraine has scared the financial market. The dollar had a bullish day across the planet, with investors looking for safety. The search for the US currency even affected the euro, which fell to R$5.53 and reached the lowest price since March 2020, at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. The ruble (Russia’s currency) depreciated by 20% in the second week of the conflict in Eastern Europe.
Despite the global appreciation of the dollar, Brazil has benefited from the appreciation of commodities, with demand for raw materials on the rise. In addition, investors are taking money from Russia to invest in other emerging countries, which also brings foreign flows to the Brazilian financial market.
* With information from Reuters
