Ibovespa Falls Most in Four Years as Itau Leads Brazil Bank Rout
- Itau posts biggest drop since 2011 after earnings report
- Petrobras joins global oil producers' slump as crude retreats
This article is for subscribers only.
The Ibovespa fell the most in four years as Itau Unibanco Holding SA led a rout in banks after an increase in bad loans highlighted concerns that Brazil’s worst recession in more than a century will sap corporate profits.
Itau contributed the most to the Ibovespa’s decline after Latin America’s largest bank said delinquency rates and provisions for bad loans rose in the fourth quarter. Shares of energy companies also slumped as oil capped its biggest two-day loss since 2009. Consumer shares have been punished on signs that Brazil’s recession is far from ending as inflation accelerates and the government struggles to trim a budget deficit.