2018.03.0619:25:00UTC+00BRAZIL: Ibovespa Falls As Trump Insists On Adopting Steel Tariffs

Ibovespa, the benchmark stock index in Brazil, gave up on gains to close 0.43% lower at 85,653.01 points Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he would move forward with higher import tariffs to steel and aluminum in spite of Republican Party opposition.

Rumors about changes in Petrobras's pricing policy also weighed on the index by pushing down the price of one of its heavyweight constituents by 0.99%.

"Late in the afternoon, Trump spoke again about tariffs there are countries that take advantage of the United States and that this should not happen. There have been rumors during the day that he could relax this which has brought relief in the markets, but now he has spoken again and affected the stock exchange again," said Homebroker Modalmais economist ?lvaro Bandeira.

Vale's shares, which spent the most of the day in the black, closed down by 0.48%. CSN shares closed stable, while Gerdau's fell 3.16%.

For the analyst of Floren?a Investimentos, Rog?rio Freitas, the primary driver for the Brazilian stock market was the rejection of a habeas corpus to the former President Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva, which fueled speculation about the electoral scenario this year.

For Wednesday, U.S. private sector job creation data and the Beige Book should draw investors' attention. For Freitas and Bandeira, the Ibovespa's trend is still bullish despite Tuesday's decline.

The locally traded U.S. dollar closed down for the third consecutive session, dropping 1.16% to R$ 3.211 after a Brazilian court denied a habeas corpus to the former President Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva and in the face of diminishing fears abroad with a trade war threat by the United States President Donald Trump.