BRAZIL: Ibovespa Changes Direction At The End And Rises With Petrobras

(RTTNews) - Ibovespa, the benchmark stock market index in Brazil, rose 0.45% to 85,761.34 points Friday after trading lower during much of the day. Petrobras shares tracked oil prices abroad and ended higher, keeping the Ibovespa afloat even amid investor worries about the adoption of import tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in the United States. In the week, the Iboevespa fell 1.75%.

"From mid-afternoon, oil recovered and started to rise. It affected Petrobras, which was the most volatile stock in the index," said Rafael Passos, an analyst at Guide Investimentos. Petrobras' preferred shares rose 2.19%.

For Mirae Asset analyst Pedro Galdi, the issue of the U.S. steel and aluminum import duty weighed on steel companies stocks, but became less relevant as the session neared its end.

"We realized today that Trump is confronting a lot of people. Even in the United States that duty is not something settled," Galdi said. Usiminas's shares fell 3.9%, while CSN's shares closed down 5.36%.

Both Passos and Galdi noted that Ibovespa reached the lowest level since mid-February during Friday's session, luring buyers who have returned to the market.

"As in recent moves, the correction has happened in the eleventh hour," Galdi said.

For Monday, Passos expects that the index will remain volatile but biased upwards. For Galdi, the beginning of a complex week for both domestic and U.S. indicators may bring a waiting pace to the markets, which may react negatively on Monday.

The locally traded U.S. dollar closed lower against the Brazilian Real after trading almost stable in the second part of the business, with no definite direction, until it settled in a negative area in the final stretch of the trading session. The drop was 0.15%, at R$ 3.251. In the week, the greenback appreciated 0.27%.