A record high for Brazil shares and a more than 2% gain in the Real, spurred by positive policy moves by the country's new government, helped Latin American markets make a strong start to the New Year and buck gloom in global markets on Wednesday.
Argentina’s benchmark MerVal stock index closed down 8.8% on Wednesday, its worst daily performance since early 2014, as concerns about trade tensions between the United States and China prompted a selloff across emerging market assets.
Ibovespa, the benchmark stock market index in Brazil, ended the last trading session of the year with a 0.43% rise to 76,402.08 points amid a lack of negative political news and tracking stock markets abroad.
Brazilian markets weakened on Monday after the acting lower house speaker in Brazil's Congress annulled an impeachment vote, though losses were pared as investors bet the move would delay rather than prevent leftist President Dilma Rousseff's removal from office.
Standard & Poor's downgraded Brazil's credit rating deeper into junk territory on Wednesday, citing its failure to curb its fiscal deficit, in a surprise blow to President Dilma Rousseff`s bid to haul the economy out of its worst recession in decades.
Brazil's depressed currency rebounded Thursday after the head of its central bank vowed to use all instruments in its arsenal to curtail the Real's collapse. Earlier in the day the Real tumbled to an all-time low of 4.248 to the U.S. dollar, but bounced back to 4.023 after central bank President Alexandre Tombini, in an unscheduled press briefing, did not rule out selling part of the country's $371 billion foreign reserves to calm the exchange rate market.
The currency closed at R$ 2.76 per US$ 1 dollar. Domestic politics, international oil prices, US Fed measures and Russian ruble drop to blame.
A sharp drop in Brazil’s financial markets signalled investors are unsure whether the newly re-elected President Dilma Rousseff will take the necessary steps to reinvigorate the country’s stalled economy.
Latin American currencies weakened on Friday after strong U.S. jobs data was seen as increasing the likelihood of higher interest rates in the world's largest economy, while Brazil markets fluttered in the last trading session before Oct. 5 elections.
Brazil’s main stock exchange Bovespa is implementing changes to its benchmark Ibovespa stock index, the first since 1968, in an effort to correct recent distortions and better reflect the performance of local shares.