São Paulo stock market rallies in volatile trading session

After a day in which sharp falls activated a circuit breaker, Brazil’s benchmark stock index Ibovespa is up by nearly 8 percent early this afternoon. The rally came despite the news of the first Covid-19 death in the country, as investors are waiting for a USD 850-billion aid package to be proposed by the White House. 

On Monday, Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes presented his own BRL 147.3-billion plan, a move dwarfed by what is about to come out of the U.S. Meanwhile, the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meets today to decide on the future of benchmark interest rates.

Exporting companies such as oil giant Petrobras (PETR4) and mining company Vale (VALE3) were leading the recovery, with gains of 4.5 and 8.7 percent, respectively. Banks are also mitigating some of Monday’s losses, notably Itaú (ITUB4, +9.3 percent) and Bradesco (BBDC4, +11 percent).

Airlines Azul (AZUL4) and Gol (GOLL4), which opened the day with heavy losses, managed to recover. By the time of publishing, Azul was down 1.6 percent, while GOL was 2.4 percent up.

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