Brazilian stocks sank as much as 9.6%, and the Real slid to new lows on Friday as political turmoil in the country added to mounting concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, while risk aversion ravaged Latin American markets.
The International Monetary Fund’s discussions with Argentina have been very productive and the fund is willing to do whatever it can to help get the Argentine economy back on a solid footing, an IMF official told reporters.
Brazil's Real eyed a fresh record low on Thursday, while other Latin American currencies were muted as markets mulled over increasingly dire economic readings due to the coronavirus.
Already grappling with one of Brazil’s most severe outbreaks of the novel coronavirus and a budget deep in the red, Rio de Janeiro state faces a potential threat to its solvency at the hands of investment giants PIMCO and Dodge & Cox.
Argentina said it didn’t make US$ 500 million in debt payments due Wednesday, starting a 30-day countdown to a possible default unless the government and bondholders can reach a deal on restructuring its massive foreign debt.
Data released on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) of Argentina showed that its foreign trade with other countries fell 17.6% in March, compared to year-ago. The trade flow reached US$7.49 billion, in the third month of the year.
China expects to import more soy and pork this year to supply domestic demand, after the coronavirus pandemic and the impacts of swine fever decimated its pig herds. Meanwhile, soy imports are estimated to reach 92.48 million tons this year.
Total Brazilian orange juice exports (FCOJ Equivalent to 66º Brix) registered an 18% increase in the first nine months of the 2019/20 harvest compared to the same period in the previous harvest. A total of 861,700 tons were shipped during the period, compared to 732,048 tons during the same period of the 2018/19 harvest. Revenues increased 6% to a total of US$1.445 billion compared to US$1.369 billion in the previous harvest.
Brazil’s Real fell on Wednesday to a fresh all-time low close to 5.40 per dollar, as expectations intensified that the central bank will cut interest rates significantly in the coming weeks to combat the coronavirus-fueled economic crisis.
The Falkland Islands government announced on Wednesday a support program for wool producers and their unsold clip in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. For that purpose, it has authorized the Department of Natural Resources to develop a program to purchase the unsold wool, in a one-time offer, with the price set at March 20.