Brasília – After remaining stable most of the morning, the US dollar plummeted to a three-month low this afternoon. The commercial dollar closed at BRL 3.738 for sale this Tuesday (8th), a drop of BRL 0.055 or 1.45%. The currency is at its lowest level since it bottomed out at BRL 3.737 on December 9th, 2015.
The dollar kept falling throughout the afternoon, after the Brazilian Central Bank announced the auctioning of USD 2 billion in foreign exchange reserves with a repurchase commitment, meaning that government will sell US dollars from the country’s reserves, but will get the money back a few weeks later. After today’s drop, the dollar is down 6.61% to date in March and 5.29% so far in 2016.
The day at the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) was marked by volatility. Bovespa’s main index, Ibovespa, was close to flat the whole trading day, despite ups and downs. As closing time drew near, the index stabilized in a bearish position and closed down 0.29% at 49,102 points.
Petrobras was the top-selling stock. Ordinary shares (with voting rights) closed down 2.62% at BRL 9.65, but preferred shares (whose holders are given preference in dividends distribution) climbed 1.36% to BRL 7.47.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
