The Brazilian Real led losses in Latin America as lingering concerns over presidential elections overshadowed a largely positive environment for emerging market assets. The US dollar ended trading at 4.333 Reales.
The Brazilian currency Real fell to a 31-month low versus the U.S. dollar on Thursday on jitters ahead of the country’s October election. Jitters across emerging markets caused by a stronger U.S. dollar and exacerbated by the unfolding currency crisis in Turkey already took a toll on the Brazilian unit before this week.
The popularity of imprisoned former Brazilian president Lula da Silva has grown strongly despite his corruption conviction, an election poll on Wednesday showed, a result that rattled markets and raised the possibility that Lula’s running mate could ultimately become the next occupant of the country’s presidential palace.
The Chief of the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) to the October 7 general elections in Brazil, the former President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla, arrived in Brasilia to learn about the advances made in the organization of the election. This is the first time that the OAS has observed an electoral process in Brazil.
The Brazilian real led losses among Latin American currencies on Monday after an opinion poll showed the market's preferred candidate in October's presidential elections lagging far behind his rivals. The Real was down 0.76% and 15.98% in the eight months of the year.
Jailed former president Lula da Silva has increased his support by five percentage points and would win Brazil's October presidential election if he was allowed to run, a poll by CNT/MDA showed on Monday. The survey, which was last taken in May, found that almost half of the leftist leader's supporters would transfer their votes to his running mate Fernando Haddad if Lula is disqualified from Brazil's most uncertain race in decades.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee, a panel of independent experts, on Friday said it had requested that the Brazilian government allow imprisoned former president Lula da Silva to exercise his political rights as a presidential candidate.
Brazil’s top electoral court must decide whether the country’s most popular politician can run in upcoming elections despite being jailed for corruption. The court is expected to declare former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ineligible in the coming weeks, ahead of the Oct. 7 vote, but that may not stop his Workers Party (PT) winning anyway.
Brazilian President Michel Temer is endorsing another party’s candidate as well as his own in October’s presidential election. On the day the campaign took off, Temer said in an interview published on Thursday by the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper that he sees former Sao Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party as a candidate who would carry on with his work.
The Workers' Party registered jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its candidate for president on Wednesday, attempting to muscle him into the race to lead Latin America's largest nation and forcing a showdown with Brazilian electoral authorities.