The Ibovespa fell 0.5% to below 177,000 points on Thursday after the Brazilian Central Bank signaled it will proceed cautiously with additional interest rate cuts. On Wednesday, the monetary authority reduced the Selic rate by 25 basis points, to 14.0%. Even so, the Copom reaffirmed that it intends to preserve an adequate degree of monetary tightening to ensure inflation converges toward the target, noting that global uncertainty remains elevated.
Financial stocks were mostly lower. BB Seguridade slipped nearly 1%. Bradesco also declined close to 1% despite posting its tenth consecutive quarter of profit growth, as investors concentrated on signs of weaker credit quality. In contrast, Itaú added around 1%, extending gains after releasing strong quarterly results. Axia advanced more than 1.5% following a recovery in net profit. Petrobras climbed nearly 1% ahead of its earnings report, supported by higher oil prices.
