Ibovespa starts to fall, with Petrobras (PETR4) in the negative

O Ibovespa opened this Monday’s session (18) on a high, but went negative in the morning. Around noon, the index fell 0.32%, to 126,335 points.

The fall of Bovespa index happens against the trend of global stock exchanges. This Monday’s good mood in stock markets began in Asia, after a series of activity data from China with better results than expected.

The appreciation of world stock markets comes ahead of this week’s heavy agenda. There are a series of monetary policy decisions, with emphasis on that of the Federal Reserve (Fed, the North American central bank). Decisions on interest rates will be made in England, Japan, Mexico, Australia, Turkey and Russia.

On the same day as the Fed’s decision, the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) must cut the Selic by half a percentage point, to 10.75% per year. Investors’ focus will be on the BC’s statement, in an attempt to unveil Copom’s next steps.

This Monday, iron ore for May closed up 0.94% in Dalian, China, after recent falls. Oil futures contracts advance with less strength, around 0.50%.

A Petrobras, which opened the session on a positive note, is now operating downwards: Petrobras ON (PETR3) drops 1.39% to R$36.15 and Petrobras PN (PETR4) drops 1.43% to R$35.80. Already the OK (VALE3) continues to rise, with +1.34% to R$60.56.

The biggest rise in Ibovespa is Cogna (COGN3), +5.65% at R$2.62, followed by CSN Mineração (CMIN3), +4.60% at R$5.69 and Rede D’Or (RDOR3 ), +2.14% to R$25.80.

On the negative side, the highlight is MRV (MRVE3), with -3.88% at R$7.92. Embraer (EMBR3), which released its balance sheet this morning, comes next with -2.54% at R$28.37, and Eletrobras (ELET3) completes the list of biggest falls with -2.14% at R$42.08 .

Market in NY

To the New York stock exchanges operate at an all-time high this morning, with investors awaiting the country’s monetary policy decision, to be announced on Wednesday (20).

Check the performance of market in NY around noon:

• Dow Jones: +0.42% to 38,876 points
• S&P500: +1.03% to 5,169 points
• Nasdaq: +1.49% to 16,211 points

Biggest highs and lows of Ibovespa

Dollar exchange rate

A dollar exchange rate today advances 0.64% to R$5.0267.

O Dolar today follows the appreciation of treasury yields in the United States, awaiting the Fomc’s decision on Wednesday.

Asian stocks close higher on Chinese data

Asian stock markets closed higher this Monday (18), following better-than-expected economic data from China and awaiting the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) interest rate decision.

Leading gains in Asia today, the Nikkei index jumped 2.67% in Tokyo to 39,740.44 points, helped by electronics and real estate stocks, as the yen gave back some of its recent gains against the dollar before the BoJ’s monetary policy announcement. The expectation is that the Japanese BC will end its negative interest rate policy, adopted more than eight years ago, in the early hours of this Tuesday (19).

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.99% to 3,084.93 points, and the less comprehensive Shenzhen Composite advanced 1.62% to 1,803.45 points, after official data showed that industrial production, retail sales and investments in fixed assets in the world’s second largest economy increased more than expected in the first two months of the year.

The Chinese real estate sector, however, remains a focus of concern, with a sharp drop in sales of new homes in the first two months of 2024.

In other parts of Asia, the Hang Seng showed a slight gain of 0.09% in Hong Kong, at 16,737.12 points, the South Korean Kospi advanced 0.71% in Seoul, at 2,685.84 points, and the Taiex rose 1% in Taiwan, at 19,879 .75 points.

In Oceania, the Australian stock market remained close to stability, with investors expecting the RBA – as the country’s Central Bank is known – to leave its basic interest rate unchanged tomorrow (19). O S&P/ASX 200 rose marginally by 0.07% in Sydney, to 7,675.80 points.

The week will also bring a monetary policy decision in the USA. The forecast is that the Federal Reserve (Fed, the American central bank) will maintain its interest rates at current levels for the fifth consecutive time.

European stock markets rise slightly

European stock markets are operating slightly higher this Monday morning, in the wake of better than expected data from China and awaiting revision of inflation figures from the euro zone, soon, and interest rate decisions, throughout of the week.

Check out the performance of the indexes around 7:50 am:

London (FTSE100): +0.14% to 7,738 points
Frankfurt (DAX): +0.24% to 17,697 points
Paris (CAC 40): +0.07% to 8,169 points
Madrid (Ibex 35): +0.27% to 10,626 points
Europe (Stoxx 50): +0.16% to 4,996 points

Investors await this morning the final survey on consumer inflation (CPI) in the euro zone, which showed an annual rate of 2.6% in the preliminary reading for February. The European Central Bank (ECB) has been seeking evidence that the bloc’s inflation is moving sustainably towards the official target of 2%, before considering interest rate cuts.

This week, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England (BoE) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will make monetary policy announcements. The expectation is that the Fed and BoE will leave their basic interest rates unchanged. The BoJ should end its negative interest rate policy, adopted more than eight years ago, according to economists.

Among individual shares, the highlight is British American Tobacco, which rose more than 1% in London, after the largest tobacco company in the world began repurchasing shares worth 1.6 billion pounds.

*With information from Dow Jones Newswires and Estadão Conteúdo

Last closing of Ibovespa

O Ibovespa ended Friday’s session (15) with a drop of 0.74%, at 126,741.81 points.