Sao Paulo, Feb 22, 2026, 03:49 (BRT) — Market closed.
- Brazil’s Ibovespa ended Friday at a record 190,534.42 points, with Vale and bank shares leading the late push.
- The real closed at 5.1766 per dollar, its strongest finish since May 2024, as traders weighed shifting U.S. tariff plans.
- Brazil’s week ahead includes current account data (Feb 24) and IGP-M inflation (Feb 26), alongside a key B3 earnings webcast (Feb 27).
Brazil’s Ibovespa heads into the new week just above 190,000 points for the first time after closing Friday at a record 190,534.42, up 1.06%. B3 said it was the index’s 12th nominal record close of 2026. (B3)
The move landed right in the middle of a global trade rethink. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would lift a temporary universal tariff on imports to 15%, a day after the Supreme Court struck down his previous tariff program. (Reuters)
That whipsaw matters for Brazil now because the rally has leaned on the currency and on foreigners rotating into higher-yield markets. The dollar closed Friday down 0.99% at 5.1766 reais — its lowest close since May 28, 2024 — while the Ibovespa’s intraday swing ran from 186,700.34 to a record high of 190,726.78, CNN Brasil reported. “The main consequence should be higher FX volatility” as traders wait for Washington’s next move, André Valério, senior economist at Inter, said. (CNN Brasil)
Stock leadership was old-school B3. Vale climbed 3.23% and the big lenders pushed higher — Itaú Unibanco gained 1.40% and Bradesco’s preferred shares rose 2.02% — while Banco do Brasil added about 2%, market data showed. (Investing.com Brasil)
Trade policy is the other lever, and not just in headlines. Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said the Supreme Court ruling removed levies that had singled out Brazil — including an extra 40% tariff imposed in August — and “restored competitiveness” in the U.S. market. “Brazil had an additional 40% tariff that no one else had,” he said. (Reuters)
Domestic rates still sit in the background like a weight. Brazil’s central bank said its IBC-Br activity index — a closely watched proxy for GDP — expanded 2.5% in 2025, easing from the prior year as agriculture cushioned a broader slowdown, with December showing a small decline. “Activity ended 2025 on a soft note, reinforcing the case for easing ahead,” Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Andres Abadia wrote, as policymakers prepare for a possible rate-cut cycle from March after holding the Selic benchmark rate at 15%. (Reuters)
The week’s local calendar is packed with the kind of numbers that move rates and the real. Brazil publishes January current account and foreign direct investment figures on Tuesday, bank lending data on Wednesday, and the IGP-M inflation index on Thursday — a wholesale-price gauge often used to reset rents and contracts — before Friday’s gross debt-to-GDP and nominal budget balance releases. (Trading Economics)
Investors will also keep one eye on the exchange itself. B3’s investor relations site shows the company’s fourth-quarter schedule, with its English conference call set for Feb. 27 at 10:00 a.m. BRT. (B3)
Commodities can still bend the index, fast. Brent crude settled at $71.76 a barrel on Friday and posted a weekly gain of more than 5% as investors priced U.S.-Iran tensions and supply risks around the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
That feeds into Petrobras, a heavyweight on the Ibovespa that often trades with oil even when company news is quiet. Petrobras will also be watched after its exploration chief Sylvia Anjos said the state-run firm will look at opportunities in Venezuela, calling it a market with “great potential” while warning the risks — including reputational damage tied to pollution at Lake Maracaibo — are real. (Reuters)
But the bull case has a fragile hinge: policy clarity outside Brazil. If Washington finds a durable legal path to broader tariffs — or if traders start to price a messier follow-through than the 150-day window now on the table — the bounce in exporters and the real can unwind, and fast. A sharper currency move would also test the trade that has helped domestic names in recent sessions.
