By Brazil Stock Guide – The Ibovespa, Brazil’s benchmark stock index, hit a historic high of 142,138.27 points on Thursday, August 28, reaching its highest intraday level ever. This marks the first time the index has surpassed the 142,000-point mark, driven by a mix of strong performance from blue-chip stocks and the impact of a major anti-money laundering operation involving the fuel sector. By midday, the Ibovespa had gained 1.83%, trading at 141,749.91 points with a trading volume of BRL 8.1 billion.
The rally was further fueled by speculation surrounding the upcoming 2026 presidential elections, after a poll showed a tight race between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas. “This has sparked the market… it’s the election rally starting,” said Gabriel Mollo, an investment analyst at Daycoval Corretora. He added, “Any poll showing Governor Tarcísio ahead will likely prompt a market response, as his potential presidency is seen as a shift towards economic policies more aligned with investor preferences.”
Among the biggest gainers were companies in the fuel distribution sector, including Raízen (RAIZ4), Ultrapar (UGPA3), and Vibra (VBBR3), which saw gains of up to 7.5%. The strong performance of these stocks came amid news of a large-scale operation targeting a multi-billion-dollar money laundering scheme in the fuel sector, allegedly involving investment funds and fintechs linked to the criminal organization PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital). The Brazilian Federal Revenue Service described the operation as “the largest action against organized crime in the country’s history in terms of institutional cooperation and scale.”
In contrast, the shares of On (ONCO3) fell sharply by 17.02%, after the company became the subject of search and seizure warrants as part of the operation. The company stated it is “fully cooperating with the authorities, providing the requested information and documents.”
While the Brazilian stock market enjoyed strong gains, U.S. markets experienced modest fluctuations, with financial markets reacting to Nvidia’s results and the U.S. GDP revision, which showed an expansion of 3.3% in Q2 2025, slightly above the previous estimate of 3%. In Brazil’s banking sector, shares of Itaú Unibanco (ITUB4) and Banco do Brasil (BBAS3) rose by over 2%, further reflecting the positive momentum in the broader market.
Despite weaker oil prices abroad, Petrobras (PETR4) saw a modest increase of 1.01%. The company recently concluded an emergency simulation at its offshore Foz do Amazonas site, a key exploration project in Brazil.
The Brazilian stock exchange also released its final pre-review for the Ibovespa, which includes the addition of C&A (CEAB3) and the exclusion of Petz (PETZ3), along with the confirmation of Cury’s (CURY3) entry.
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