SÃO PAULO (Reuters) -The spot dollar closed lower against the real on Wednesday, in the wake of the external scenario, where the US currency also retreated against other currencies after the Federal Reserve announced an increase of 0.25 points percentage in its basic interest rate, to the range of 4.75% to 5.00% per annum, as expected.
In its communiqué, released at 3 pm (Brasília time), the Fed also signaled that it may promote just one more interest rate hike, before ending the current cycle of increases.
The Fed’s comments triggered the search for riskier assets, which made US stock markets rise after the decision and the currencies of commodity exporting countries to appreciate.
In Brazil, the dollar had been sustaining small gains before the Fed. After the statement, the US currency turned to the negative.
The spot dollar closed the day quoted at 5.2364 reais on sale, down 0.17%.
On B3, at 17:13 (Brasília time), the dollar futures contract for the first month fell 0.22%, at 5.2445 reais.
Until the announcement of the Fed’s decision, the dollar fluctuated in narrow margins against the real, with investors waiting for the release. In addition, the market was also waiting for the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) of the Central Bank, scheduled for after 6:30 pm.
The US currency has firmed into negative territory just after the Fed.
“It was only a 0.25 point increase. The Fed was less aggressive, including in the comments. As a result, the dollar accelerated its fall abroad and emerging currencies rose”, commented Jefferson Rugik, director of Correparti Corretora.
At 5:13 pm (Brasília time), the dollar index – which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of six currencies – fell 0.65%, at 102,500.
In the morning, the Central Bank sold all 16,000 traditional exchange rate swap contracts, offered in the rollover of May maturities.
(By Fabrício de Castro; editing by Isabel Versiani and Pedro Fonseca)
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