The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange rose more than 1% and the Brazilian real appreciated more than 2% after holding the closest elections in Brazil since 1981. With 50.9% of the votes in favor, Lula da Silva completed his third term in the second round of the presidential elections.

The main index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, the Bovespa Index, began operations with a fall of 2.12% to 112,113.34 points. Investors assimilated Lula da Silva’s triumph and the stock market closed at 116,037.08 points with an intraday gain of 1.31 percent. Results were positive for most issuers, with 82 of 92 stocks reporting gains on the day.

Shares of state oil company Petrobras lost more than 7% to 33.26 reais per share, while shares of state-owned Banco do Brasil fell 4.64% to 37.02 reais per unit. The credit rating agency, Fitch, detailed in a report that it sees no risk that the new government of Lula da Silva will generate changes in the country’s macroeconomic policy.

He highlighted the efforts of Lula’s campaign team to approach Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckimin, a critic of the Workers’ Party, to form the new government.

Fitch also stated that there is little chance that the Lula government will change the course of monetary policy. The Brazilian real appreciated 2.28% to 5.17 per dollar, posting its biggest intraday gain since October 3, the day after the first round of elections in Brazil. (With information from agencies)

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