The dollar closed stable this Tuesday (2), again above R$5, after falling at the beginning of the session, pressured by the announcement of an extra Central Bank swap auction.
What is the dollar exchange rate today?
The spot dollar remained stable, at R$5.059 for purchase and sale. On B3, the first-month dollar futures contract fell 0.08%, to 5,072 points.
The BC sold US$ 1 billion in exchange rate swap contracts in this session, in an operation carried out between 12:30 pm and 12:40 pm, which sought to meet a demand generated by the redemption of the NTN-A3 bond, linked to the exchange rate, scheduled for April 15th.
Masterclass
The Most Promising Stocks on the Stock Exchange
Download a list of 10 Small Caps stocks that, in experts’ opinion, have appreciation potential in the coming months and years, and watch a free class
The NTN-A3 is a public bond indexed to the dollar that has not been traded by the National Treasury for years, but there are still institutions in the Brazilian market that hold the paper in their portfolios.
On April 15, a total of 18.534 billion reais in NTN-A3s that were negotiated in 1997 mature. In current values, the papers are equivalent to around 3.7 billion dollars.
Commercial dollar
- Sale: R$5,059
- Purchase: R$5,059
Tourism dollar
- Sale: R$5,261
- Purchase: R$5,081
Read more: Types of dollar: find out the main ones and the importance of this currency
Continues after advertising
Why is the dollar down today?
Although the BC indicated that this Tuesday’s swap auction would be to meet this specific demand, avoiding market distortions, some professionals considered that the institution may have used the moment to contain a greater rise in the dollar.
Despite this, during the morning the dollar regained strength against the real, even though abroad the bias towards the US currency was negative. At the auction, which took place between 12:30 pm and 12:40 pm, the BC sold all 20,000 swap contracts offered.
According to José Faria Júnior, partner at Wagner Investimentos (WIA), NTN-A is a bond with a return linked to the dollar launched in 1997 and the series with the longest maturity expires now, on April 15th.
The NTN-A was issued to exchange external federal public debt securities for internal securities, indexed to the dollar plus interest rates, he adds.
“The holders of these securities, to hedge their position, sell dollars. However, with the redemption, they will need to exit the short position, buying dollars to undo the hedge,” he says.
The total volume of securities is R$18.5 billion, around US$3.7 billion. For this reason, according to him, the BC today held an extraordinary exchange swap auction of 20 thousand contracts, or US$ 1 billion.
“Some analysts believe that an auction below the total volume could bring more volatility. It is difficult to give an opinion, we do not have information on the volume of dollars that needs to be purchased to undo the hedge position”, reinforces Júnior.
Meanwhile, abroad, the index that compares the dollar to a basket of strong pairs fell slightly, losing steam after earlier touching a high in five years, giving relief to the currencies of emerging countries.
(With Reuters)
