BRAZIL: Ibovespa Hits The Highest Level In Three Months Boosted By Commodities

(RTTNews) - Ibovespa, the benchmark stock index in Brazil, rebounded after Thursday's risk-aversion mood and rose by 1.09% Friday, closing at 68,714.66 points, boosted by the rise in oil and iron ore prices abroad.

That was Ibovespa's highest closing level since May 16, right before the outbreak of a corruption scandal involving the JBS owner Joesley Batista and the Brazilian President Michel Temer. In the week, Ibovespa rose 2.01%.

Abroad, the prices of oil futures contracts closed by more than 3% higher. In the face of the move, Petrobras' preferred shares (PETR4) were among the highest gains of the Ibovespa today, rising 4.06%. Vale's shares (VALE3), for its turn, advanced 1.44% after the appreciation of iron ore prices in China.

Shares of steelmakers followed and also performed well. Usiminas (USIM5 1%) also announced a new steel increase for distributors as of September 1, at 13.1%.

Meanwhile, the locally traded U.S. dollar closed the session 1% lower against the real, at R$ 3.1470, in line with the outside and pressured by reactions in the prices of commodities such as oil and iron ore. Some optimism about the fiscal issue and the spending cuts, which are expected to return to debate next week, have helped to curtail the currency's fall.

For the next week, Home Broker Modalmais's Alvaro Bandeira believes that the Ibovespa may continue to present a positive movement, but he points out that it is necessary to watch the political scenes in Brazil and the U.S.