Assaí Surges 7% to Lead Ibovespa Gains

Sendas Distribuidora (Assaí) led gains on Brazil's benchmark stock index on Thursday, rising 7.17%. The broader Ibovespa advanced 1.42% to 188,268.59 points, while Natura posted the steepest decline among index constituents with a 3.30% drop.

The advance came as market participants evaluated a fresh presidential election survey from AtlasIntel. The poll indicated a statistical tie in a potential second-round runoff, placing Flávio Bolsonaro at 46.4% and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at 46.2%, within a margin of error of one percentage point. Compared to August, Flávio gained 3.8 percentage points from 42.6%, while Lula dropped 0.9 percentage point from 47.1%.

Josias Bento, investment specialist and partner at GT Capital, noted that the market reversed direction to trade higher following the poll, anticipating that Flávio could implement more responsible fiscal policies regarding public accounts.

Broader market sentiment was also shaped by international macro factors. Brent crude surged 6.34% to $107.63 per barrel and WTI rose 6.7% to $102.48 per barrel, driving gains for oil producers. Meanwhile, the US Producer Price Index rose 0.4% in August, while the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 slipped 0.6%, 0.65%, and 0.58%, respectively. The US dollar dipped 0.19% against the Brazilian real to close at R$ 5.1027.