Market roundup: Investor fears give Brazil a bear hug

🔔 The dashboard: Brazil’s benchmark stock index Ibovespa dropped by 1.15 percent this week. Meanwhile, the Brazilian Real lost 1.73 percent against the U.S. Dollar this week. 

• Biggest gains: Weg (engineering), +15.9 percent.
• Biggest drops: SLC Agrícola (agribusiness), -14.81 percent.

Brazilian stock exchange in bear market territory

Last week’s stock rout spilled over into this week in Brazil, with significant losses. The country’s benchmark stock index Ibovespa ended Thursday’s trading session at 98,080 points — the lowest since November 2020. Falling into a bear market is as close as ever.

Definition. A bear market is when stocks fall 20 percent from a recent high.

By the numbers. On Thursday, the Ibovespa index was down 19.3 percent from the April 1 peak. On Friday, the index recovered slightly, now 18.8 percent below the peak. But the index is down by nearly 25 percent from its June 2021 historical high. 

What they are saying. “The Brazilian stock market has been on a downward path, with descending tops and bottoms, as stock prices fail to establish an uptrend,” says Fabrício...