Brazil Spends $17 Billion in Reserves to Lift Cratering Real

  • Real pares weekly losses as central bank steps in repeatedly
  • Assets add to gains after Lula comments in social media

Pedestrians walk past a currency exchange shop on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Photographer: Tuane Fernandes/Bloomberg
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Brazilian markets bounced at the end of the week amid extraordinary central bank moves to curb a selloff in the currency.

The real was among the best performers in emerging markets Friday after the central bank stepped in with a spot sale and credit line auction totaling a combined $7 billion. The currency further extended gains, climbing to a session high after a social media post from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reaffirming the need to safeguard the nation’s fiscal rule.