Brazil’s failure to meet the government’s fiscal goal, a contracting economy and President Dilma Rousseff’s sinking popularity are making forecasters of the nation’s currency the most pessimistic in a month. The drop in the real took it to a level weaker than the year-end median outlook of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg after Finance Minister Joaquim... Continue Reading →
Junk Bondholders Weigh Emerging-Market Exit
The portion of emerging-market companies in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global High Yield Index has swelled since they were first included four years ago. Petroleo Brasileiro SA became the biggest index member after the Brazilian oil producer was cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service in February, with $44 billion of debt, according to Bank of America. Russian... Continue Reading →
Bond Traders Problems Persist in Brazil
Bond investors in Brazil just can’t catch a break. After being burned by a bribery scandal at the country’s state-owned oil company, they were buffeted again last week when federal prosecutors probing Brazil’s national development bank said the lender lost out an estimated $2 billion by setting interest rates too low for risky borrowers. The... Continue Reading →
Oil Bear Market Punishes Petrobras Shares
The slide of crude into a bear market sank Petroleo Brasileiro SA, sending the Ibovespa to the longest rout since February 2013. Petrobras, the oil producer at the center of Brazil’s largest corruption scandal, extended a seven-day plunge to 17 percent. Crude traded in New York fell more than 20 percent from its June high... Continue Reading →
Brazil Real Tumbles Hard
SAO PAULO, July 24 Brazil's currency, the real, plunged to its weakest level in 12 years on Friday as investors continued to digest the government's recent announcement that it would slash its fiscal savings goals. Currencies daily % YTD % Brazil real 3.3500 -1.63 -20.87 Mexico peso 16.225 -0.10 -9.13 Chile peso 660.9 -0.74 -8.25... Continue Reading →
Currency Drop Sparks Race to Cut Brazil Forecasts
The Brazilian real’s 4.5 percent tumble this week, the most among major currencies worldwide, has forecasters reviewing estimates after the government said it won’t meet fiscal targets. The real touched a 12-year low Friday, falling faster and farther than economists had predicted, after Finance Minister Joaquim Levy asked lawmakers to cut a key budget goal.... Continue Reading →
No Love for Brazil Budget Plan
Brazil traders see Finance Minister Joaquim Levy’s admission that the government won’t meet its fiscal goals as a bad omen. The real touched a 12-year low, while the Ibovespa led declines among major equity benchmarks after the government asked lawmakers to approve a reduction in its target for the budget surplus before interest payments. The move sparked... Continue Reading →
Oil Returns to Bear Market
Oil relapsed into a bear market in New York as resilient U.S. output, rising OPEC supply and threats to Chinese demand keep a global glut in place. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 1.5 percent Thursday to close at $48.45 a barrel. The grade has lost 21 percent in the past six weeks, meeting the common... Continue Reading →
Brazil Rating Firm Strips Country of Investment Grade
A local ratings firm stripped Brazil of its investment grade on Thursday, saying President Dilma Rousseff's new budget savings goals are insufficient to stabilize the country's growing debt burden. Austin Rating, which specializes in rating local financial institutions and companies, cut Brazil's foreign-currency debt to BB-plus, a level considered "junk," and the local-currency debt to... Continue Reading →
Brazil Budget Capitulation Sinks Currency
Brazil’s real led global declines as a contracting economy forced Finance Minister Joaquim Levy to dilute the government’s fiscal target, adding to concern that the nation is facing a credit downgrade. The real dropped 1.3 percent to 3.2646 per dollar at 9:17 a.m. in Sao Paulo, the weakest level on a closing basis since March... Continue Reading →
