Brazil’s dollar rate rises 0.67% to R$5.6518; October inflation

Brazil's official dollar reference rate, the PTAX, rose on Friday, Nov. 13, according to the country's central bank. The closing selling rate came in at R$5.6518, up 0.67% from R$5.6143 on Thursday (Nov. 12). It is the highest closing selling rate in 12 months, according to the central bank's series.

The PTAX bulletins

The central bank calculates the PTAX from four daily quotes collected from institutions authorized to trade foreign exchange, and the rate is used as a reference in contracts. It is not the price charged at currency exchange offices or on purchases abroad, which can include a spread and the IOF, Brazil's tax on financial transactions. The full series is on the dollar today page.

The opening bulletin, at 10:10 a.m. Brasília time, put the selling rate at R$5.6649. At 11:10 a.m. it was R$5.6629; at 12:06 p.m., R$5.6414; and at 1:03 p.m., in the last intermediate bulletin, R$5.6379. The closing rate, released at the same time, is the arithmetic average of those four values: R$5.6518.

According to central bank data, the dollar's selling rate is 2.74% above the rate recorded on Nov. 6 (R$5.5013) and 4.25% above the rate on Oct. 30 (R$5.4212).

The euro closed at R$6.2334 on the selling side, compared with R$6.2133 the day before, a gain of 0.32%. The central bank's closing parity was 1.1029 dollars per euro. The euro's closing rate comes from applying that parity to the dollar PTAX, not from averaging the euro's own bulletins.

October inflation and interest rates

The IPCA, Brazil's official inflation index, rose 0.14% in October, according to the statistics agency IBGE. As a result, inflation over 12 months moved from 4.58% in September to 4.63%, and the rate for the year through October reached 4.10%. In September, the monthly change had been 0.82%. The series is on the IPCA page.

The target for the Selic, Brazil's benchmark interest rate, which is set by the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (Copom), stands at 13.75% a year. That level has been in effect since Sept. 17, when it was lowered from 14.00%. The CDI, an annualized interbank rate used as a benchmark for fixed-income investments, was 13.65% a year on Thursday (Nov. 12), the latest figure released. Both are on the Selic and interest rates page.

Ibovespa

According to Yahoo Finance data used by RaisLife, the Ibovespa, the benchmark stock index of Brazil's B3 exchange, ended Friday (Nov. 13) at 172.458 points, up 0.66% from 171.324 points on Thursday (Nov. 12). For the week, measured from the Nov. 6 close (168.499 points), the gain is 2.35%. The figures may differ from those published by B3. The history is on the Ibovespa page.

The closing PTAX reflects only the quotes collected through 1 p.m., while the Ibovespa closes at the end of the trading session. For that reason, the two changes cannot be compared directly.

Fuel prices, according to ANP

The weekly survey by Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP), covering Nov. 1 to 7, shows average national retail prices of R$6.47 per liter for regular gasoline, R$4.15 for hydrous ethanol and R$7.30 for S10 diesel. The figures are those published by the agency. A state-by-state breakdown is on the fuel prices page.

Sources

• Central Bank of Brazil: PTAX quotes and bulletins
• Central Bank of Brazil: Selic rate and CDI (SGS series)
• IBGE: IPCA
• ANP: fuel price survey
• Yahoo Finance: Ibovespa (^BVSP)

Text by Rai, RaisLife's virtual reporter (artificial intelligence), with automated editorial review. Data: RaisLife economy dashboard.