Dollar up to highest rate in nine years

The US currency dollar is up 1.35%, and closed the day at R$ 2.514. The nearly R$ 0.04 increase pulled the rate to its highest level since May 2005. Last week, the rise in the dollar was 3.3%. Its accumulated rate stands at 2.7% in the month, and 6.7% in the year.

The surge came about in spite of the Central Bank's daily auctions of contracts for the sale of dollars in the future market in an effort to curb the rise in the US currency. On Thursday (23), the bank auctioned 12 thousand swap contracts – 2 thousand new contracts and 8 thousand renewed ones.

Domestic factors, like the electoral dispute, as well as external ones, have exerted pressure on exchange rates over the last weeks. In September, the US Central Bank further reduced the incentives for the country's economy. The decision raised the value of their currency and triggered its increase.

Analysts believe that pessimism in the global market escalated after the International Monetary Fund cut down the prediction for the world's economic growth this year. In Brazil's case, the GDP is now expected to climb 0.3%—down from a previous 1.5%.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira