Business-friendly opposition candidate Aecio Neves received a crucial boost in Brazil's presidential election race on Sunday with the endorsement of popular environmentalist Marina Silva two weeks before his runoff against incumbent Dilma Rousseff.
The political party that launched environmentalist Marina Silva's unsuccessful presidential bid has thrown its support behind pro-business candidate Aecio Neves for Brazil's Oct. 26 runoff vote against populist President Dilma Rousseff.
Although pollsters in Brazil got it right with President Dilma Rousseff victory and the growth tendency of runner up Aecio Neves in the last days leading to Sunday's presidential election, they failed dismally in percentage estimates.
The Sao Paulo stock exchange soared 4.7% on Monday with the Bovespa index reaching 57.115 points following Sunday's presidential election when no candidate managed 50% of ballots, opening the way for a runoff between pro-business Aecio Neves and president Dilma Rousseff.
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.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has extended her lead over environmentalist Marina Silva ahead of Sunday's Oct. 5 presidential election and would win a likely second-round runoff, a new poll showed on Thursday.
Brazil's rapid religious transformation is having an impact on the country's tight presidential race, where abortion and gay marriage have emerged as hot issues and Pentecostal televangelists are political power brokers.
Brazilian financial markets took a beating on Monday after polls showed President Dilma Rousseff pulling past challenger Marina Silva ahead of Sunday's election. The Brazilian currency closed at its weakest level since December 2008 while the benchmark Bovespa stock index notched its biggest one-day loss in over three years.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, seeking re-election next week, says she will pursue media regulation if she returns for a second term, seeking to boost pluralism without influencing editorial content, according to media reports.
Brazilian presidential candidate Marina Silva vowed to de-politicize regulatory agencies that she says do more to win favor with government allies than ensure fair and efficient markets in Latin America's biggest economy.