São Paulo – The dollar gained 16.98% on Brazil’s currency, the real, in the first half of 2018. The United States currency dropped 0.43% in the first three months of the year, before going up 17.49% from April to June.
This Friday (29), the last trading day of June, the dollar climbed 0.56% to BRL 3.8773. Investors are watching the US-China trade war on the external level, and the outlook for the presidential election next October in Brazil.
Since May 14, the Brazilian Central Bank has been holding swap auctions (i.e. selling dollars on the futures market) and repurchase auctions, whereby it has injected USD 43 billion into the economy so far.
Ibovespa, the main index of the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), was up 1.39% this Friday to 72,762 points. The biggest-gaining shares were Petrobras preferred shares, up 3.55%.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
