São Paulo – The US dollar was off to a strong start, closing up 0.62% to BRL 3.2495 this Thursday (1). The hike was driven by financial market expectations surrounding the economic measures to be put in place by the administration of Michel Temer, who took office following the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff last Wednesday (31).
The Brazilian Central Bank also took action in the currency exchange market. Yet another factor in driving the dollar up was expectation regarding the United States interest rate. If it gets raised soon, then investors are sure to move their funds out of other countries and into the US.
This Thursday, the main São Paulo Stock Exchange index, Ibovespa, closed up 0.58% to 58,236 points, driven by shares of companies including mining company Vale, state-run oil company Petrobras, and pulp and paper company Suzano.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
