Last Friday, the dollar fell 0.79%, accumulating a drop of 0.47% in the week and being sold at R$ 4.2997.
The dollar closed down on Friday (the 14th), continuing the truce from Thursday (the 13th), on yet another day of intervention by the Central Bank in the foreign exchange market. The currency had broken four consecutive records, until Wednesday.
It was the first weekly drop of the year, according to Reuters. There was a decline of 0.79%, closing at R$ 4.2997. And in the week, the dollar accumulated a drop of 0.47%.
In this period of records, the highest closing level was recorded on Wednesday, February 12 (R$ 4.3505). The following day, the currency reached its highest intraday price (R$ 4.3830), despite closing down.
In the partial month, the US currency is up 0.34%. And it has already risen 7.23% in the year to date.
Meanwhile, the main index of the Brazilian stock exchange, the B3, closed down this Friday (day 14). The Ibovespa fell 1.11%, to 114,380 points.
BC and swap auction
The Central Bank also held another auction of up to 20,000 traditional foreign exchange swap contracts last Friday (the 14th). The equivalent of US$1.4 billion in net supply of these assets was the same process carried out on Thursday, after the dollar surged.
Through “currency swap” contracts, the Central Bank carried out an operation equivalent to a currency sale on the futures market (derivatives), which reduces the pressure on the currency to rise. The offer of currency swaps on the 13th was the first of its kind since August 2018.
These contracts are basically for risk exchange: the Central Bank offers a dollar sale contract, with a pre-established closing date, but does not deliver the US currency. Upon maturity of these contracts, the investor agrees to pay an interest rate on their value and receives from the Central Bank the variation of the dollar in the same period.
Swaps also serve to provide a certain “protection” to agents who have debt in foreign currency – in this case, when the dollar rises, they receive their variation from the BC.