Ibovespa Jumps on Soft Mid-Month Inflation

The Ibovespa rose 1% to trade above 177,000 on Tuesday after Brazil’s mid-July inflation report came in below expectations. Annual inflation slowed to 4.52%, below forecasts of 4.67% and down from 4.8% in June. The softer reading, together with June’s lower-than-expected inflation data, reinforced expectations of a 25-basis-point Selic rate cut next week. Financials posted gains, with Itaú, Itaúsa, and Banco do Brasil up around 1.5%, while Bradesco gained nearly 2%. Bradesco and Santander (+2%) are due to report earnings on Wednesday. Utilities also advanced, with Axia rising nearly 3% and Sabesp adding almost 1.5%. Ambev gained about 2% ahead of its earnings release on Thursday. WEG extended recent gains, rising 1% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell, citing more balanced market expectations. The company secured a contract from ENGIE Brasil to supply generating units for the R$1.2 billion Jaguara hydroelectric plant expansion project.




