Brazil's Messy Impeachment Drama Almost Over. Markets Can't Wait
Comment of the Day

August 10 2016

Commentary by Eoin Treacy

Brazil's Messy Impeachment Drama Almost Over. Markets Can't Wait

This article by Isabel Gottlieb for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

After taking over in May, Temer has yet to drive through any major policy proposals amid concern that painful spending cuts or unpopular reforms could weaken Senate support for his administration ahead of the impeachment vote. His economic team is expected to propose changes to social-security laws immediately after the ruling, and support for that and other measures will be an important indicator of whether Brazil’s world-beating currency, bond and stock rallies have staying power.

Optimism about political change in Brazil “is somewhat being reflected in year-to-date momentum, but it’s not completely priced in,” said Sean Newman, a senior portfolio manager for emerging markets at Invesco Advisers in Atlanta.

Investors will likely remain bullish on Brazil’s corporate and government debt throughout August, and credit default swaps may extend this year’s gains once Rousseff is removed for good, he said. In the swaps market, the cost to hedge against losses on Brazil’s bonds has fallen by almost half since February. The currency, meanwhile, has rallied 26 percent against the dollar, the most in the world, and the benchmark Ibovespa index’s 68 percent increase in dollar terms in 2016 outperforms all other major benchmarks.

 

Eoin Treacy's view

Foreign investors had been waiting for a catalyst to re-enter the Brazilian market and the prospect of a new reform minded president has seen the Real surge and the iBovespa challenge a six-year progression of lower rally highs. The big question is to what extent these rallies have already priced in much of the good news since none of the expected fiscal reforms have yet been passed.

The iBovespa Index is somewhat overbought as its tests the long progression of lower rally highs and some consolidation is looking more likely than not. There is the possibility that the eventual impeachment of Dilma Rousseff could represent a buy the rumour sell the next event which could translate into a somewhat deeper consolidation for Brazilian assets. Nevertheless 14%+ overnight rates represent a cushion for the market.

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