The Ibovespa inched higher on Thursday, hovering near the 186,000 level after the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) cut the Selic rate by 25 bps to 13.75%, in line with market expectations. The BCB left its forward guidance open, noting that the prevailing environment of uncertainty requires composure and caution in the conduct of monetary policy. This was the last monetary policy meeting before October’s presidential election.
A survey by AtlasIntel/Bloomberg showed Flávio Bolsonaro extending his advantage over President Lula in a potential second-round runoff, though the two remain statistically tied.
In equities, financials traded mostly higher, with Itaú, B3, and Caixa each gaining around 0.5%. Utilities also advanced, led by Sabesp, which rose about 1%. Vale climbed nearly 1% as iron ore prices in China edged up. Embraer gained more than 2% after announcing that BermudAir will become the first airline in the Americas to operate the E190F, a cargo-focused variant developed for freight transportation, under a leasing agreement.
