An exchange-traded fund that invests in stocks in Brazil was climbing Monday morning after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the country’s presidential election in a runoff vote that resulted in the leftist beating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
BlackRock’s iShares MSCI Brazil ETF
EWZ,
was up 2.4% Monday morning, according to FactSet data. Monday’s trading increased the fund’s gains this year to around 14.7%.
The iShares MSCI Brazil ETF, which had $5.5 billion of net assets on Oct. 28, surged early this month after a surprisingly tight race between da Silva, commonly known as Lula, and Bolsonaro prompted a runoff election. Neither candidate had clinched a majority of votes, with Bolsonaro’s performance being stronger than expected after pre-election polling had pointed to a commanding lead for da Silva, according to an Associated Press report at the time.
Brazilians voted again on Oct. 30, with da Silva emerging as the victor, the AP reported Sunday. With 99.9% of the votes counted in the runoff election, da Silva had 50.9% and Bolsonaro 49.1%.
Bolsonaro did not immediately concede his defeat, according to the AP report.
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The iShares MSCI Brazil ETF has risen 8.7% this month based on Monday morning trading, after falling 2.9% in September, FactSet data show. The fund jumped 9.9% on Oct. 3, following the tight results of Brazil’s presidential election that prompted the runoff.
The ETF’s top three holdings as of Oct. 28 were shares of metals and mining company Vale that are listed in Brazil, oil and gas producer Petroleo Brasileiro
PETR4,
and financial-services firm Itau Unibanco Holding
ITUB4,
according to holdings data on BlackRock’s website. The fund is listed in the U.S. on the NYSE Arca exchange.
