Brazil stocks fall nearly 5 percent but still post biggest weekly gain in four years

Brazilian stocks fell nearly 5% on Friday, as fears over the economic impact of coronavirus prompted traders to take profits on the strong rally in recent days that has still propelled the market to its biggest weekly rise in almost four years.
In foreign exchange, a $1 billion intervention in the spot market from the central bank failed to prevent the real from falling 2% against the dollar and chalking up its sixth consecutive weekly loss.
With confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths continuing to rise around the world, the economic and financial toll soured investor sentiment on Friday, even as governments and central banks are pumping in trillions of dollars' worth of stimulus.
Economists at Citi said they expect Brazil's economy to shrink by 1.7% this year, compared with growth of 1.6% previously, and economists at Goldman Sachs said they now expect the economy to shrink 3.4%.
Both banks expect the central bank to cut rates again in the coming weeks. The benchmark Bovespa stock index fell 4.8% to 73,980 points on Friday, meaning it closed the week with a gain of almost 10%, its first weekly gain in six weeks and the biggest in four years.
"It's clear profit-taking after the unprecedented three-day rally, triggered by the increasing figures of COVID-19 in the US and Europe," said Jason Vieira, chief economist at Infinity Asset Management in Sao Paulo. The Brazilian real fell more than 2% to 5.1066 per dollar, sealing its sixth weekly decline in a row and taking its year-to-date losses against the dollar to 21.5%.
The central bank sold $610 million and then $410 million in two auctions on Friday, bringing its total spot market interventions so far this year to almost $11 billion. Long-dated interest rate futures ended the day little changed, having touched their lowest level in 10 days the previous day.