The dollar ended Monday higher, one day after the US announced a quarantine until April 30. Ibovespa also grew by 1.65% on the day.
On Monday, the dollar closed the day higher, gaining strength against the main international currencies. In Brazil, the commercial dollar grew by 1.52%, reaching R$ 5.1810. The highest value since March 18, when the dollar broke its record, reaching R$ 5.1960. The tourist dollar closed with a rise of 2.8%, at 5.46 reais.
The Ibovespa also closed up 1.65% to 74,639 points. The highlight was the 10.58% rise in Eletrobras, after a positive balance sheet.
Oil, however, fell sharply again. The price of a barrel of Brent fell 8.9%, reaching US$$ 22.27, its lowest value since 2002. The decline is a consequence of lower demand for the raw material due to the coronavirus crisis.
At this time, with the world's largest economy at a standstill for at least 30 days, doubts about the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy are growing even more. This is causing an increase in the demand for safe assets, such as the US currency.
According to Jason-Vieira, chief economist at Infinity Asset: “It’s not the real that’s weak, it’s the dollar that’s strong.”
The Dxy index, which measures the performance of the dollar against the currencies of the United States' main trading partners, grew by 0.6%.
Political scenario in Brazil
It is not only the international situation that affects Brazil, there is also the Brazilian political scenario weighing in. “There is a lot of internal disagreement within the government,” said Vanei Nagem, currency analyst at Terra Investimentos.
President Jair Bolsonaro has been adopting a stance on the pandemic that goes against the recommendations of the Ministry of Health (MS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). This has led to repeated criticism. This Sunday (29), Bolsonaro disregarded the guidelines of the Minister of Health, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, and went out to meet supporters, causing crowds to form on the streets.
Yesterday, two of the posts made by the president's official account in which he supported the reopening of stores and the end of social isolation were removed by Twitter for violating the network's rules.