Brazilian stock index tops 100,000 points for first time
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian stocks topped 100,000 points for the first time on Monday, with hopes for progress in President Jair Bolsonaro’s promised promarket reforms. The Ibovespa, the country’s main index in Sao Paulo, hit an intra- day record of 100,037.69 before closing at its highest level ever of 99,993.93, up 0.86 per cent from the previous trading session.
Shares have increased by more than 13 per cent since Bolsonaro took power on January 1, breaking a dozen records in the first month of his administration, as investors bet on the far-right leader fulfilling his pledges to get Brazil’s finances in order.
The new high coincides with Bolsonaro’s visit to Washington where he will meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump. The tough-talking president has long expressed his admiration for Trump, sharing the US leader’s dislike of multilateral organizations and leftist politics, while promoting businesses over environmental concerns at home.
It also comes after Friday’s successful auction of concessions to 12 regional airports across Brazil that was seen as the first major test of foreign investor confidence in the Bolsonaro’s market-friendly agenda. Spain’s Aena snapped up six airports while Flughafen Zurich of Switzerland bought rights to two. Brazilian consortium Aeroeste picked up four airports.
Ultraconservative Bolsonaro has made privatizing state- owned companies and overhauling the costly pension system key planks of his policy to reduce soaring public debt and regain investor faith in Latin America’s largest economy. — AFP