FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014
SAO PAULO–Brazilian stocks finished higher Friday after a survey showed President Dilma Rousseff is losing ground with potential voters.
The Ibovespa stock index gained 3.04% Friday, ending the session at 53,128 points. Meanwhile, the Brazilian real ended active trading at 2.2478 reais per dollar, compared with 2.2649 reais at Thursday’s close, according to Tullett Prebon via FactSet.
A survey published Friday by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo showed the president’s advantage against her main contenders is dropping, even though she continues to be well ahead of them.
According to the newspaper’s Datafolha poll institute, 34% of respondents said they would vote for Ms. Rousseff, down from 37% in a May. Aecio Neves of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party had 19% support, down slightly from 20% in the previous poll. Eduardo Campos of the Brazilian Socialist Party had 7% support, down from 11%. The poll also showed that 30% of voters were undecided.
Political observers attribute the declining support for Ms. Rouseff to the weak performance of Brazil’s economy. Inflation is running above 6%, while economic growth isn’t expected to surpass 2% this year.