Market roundup: Interest rate bump comes less aggressive

By Gustavo Ribeiro

Hello and welcome back to our market roundup, when we sum up the most important goings-on in Brazilian markets.

🔔 The dashboard: In this short week interrupted by the Corpus Christi holiday, the Ibovespa benchmark stock index was down by 2.5 percent (still, on Wednesday the index broke an eight-day negative streak). The Brazilian Real, meanwhile, lost 1 percent against the U.S. Dollar — and the American currency broke the psychological barrier of BRL 5.

• Biggest gains: Qualicorp (insurance), +9.2 percent.
• Biggest drops: Via Varejo (retail), -18.3 percent. 

Interest rates up for the 11th straight time

In line with market expectations, the Brazilian Central Bank bumped interest rates by 0.5 points, continuing what has been the world’s steepest monetary tightening process. In the space of just 14 months, the country’s benchmark Selic interest rate jumped from 2 to 13.25 percent. 

The Selic rate is at its highest since January 2017.

For its next...