Ibovespa falls after arrest warrants are issued for Renan, Jucá, Sarney, and Cunha.

Do Infomoney - The Ibovespa opened lower on Tuesday (7) after a series of arrest warrants issued by the Attorney General of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot. He requested the arrest of the President of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL), the former Minister of Planning, Romero Jucá, the suspended President of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), and the former President of the Senate, José Sarney. The requests were based on evidence that Renan, Sarney and Jucá acted to try to obstruct Operation Lava Jato.

Abroad, international stock markets are still rising, reflecting comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who downplayed Friday's weak jobs report but did not signal a date for an interest rate hike.

At 10:05 AM (Brasilia time), the benchmark index of the Brazilian stock exchange was down 0,50%, at 50.170 points. Meanwhile, the commercial dollar was up 0,42% at R$ 3,5051 for sale, while the dollar futures contract for July was up 0,31% at R$ 3,529. In the futures interest rate market, the DI for January 2017 was up 3 basis points at 13,60%, while the DI for January 2021 was up 13 basis points at 12,45%.

Among commodities, spot iron ore with 62% purity and delivery to the port of Qingdao is up 2,80% to US$ 52,54 per dry ton.

The arrests of Renan, Sarney, Jucá, and Cunha

The requests were based on evidence that Renan, Sarney, and Jucá acted to try to obstruct Operation Lava Jato. According to a source interviewed by the newspaper O Globo, there is no doubt that, if the plot had not been documented by Sérgio Machado's recordings, the legislation would have been modified according to the interests of those under investigation. Renan, Jucá, and Sarney are among the most influential politicians in Congress, while Sarney, even without a mandate, controls blocs in the Chamber and the Senate. The former president is even said to have played a decisive role in the impeachment process of President Dilma Rousseff.

Ilan Goldfajn's interview session

Economist Ilan Goldfajn, nominated to head the Central Bank, will be questioned in the Senate this Tuesday at 10 am (Brasilia time). Luiz Otávio de Souza Leal, chief economist at Banco ABC Brasil, does not believe that Goldfajn will have problems passing the senators' scrutiny. "Ilan has already worked at the Central Bank and is a very good candidate for the position. Not even the current opposition, which is the former government, will put unreasonable pressure on him."

Eurozone GDP

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the eurozone grew more than initially estimated in the first quarter, according to the second estimate published today by the European Union's statistics agency, Eurostat. Between January and March, the bloc's economy advanced 0,6% compared to the last quarter of 2015 and registered an increase of 1,7% year-on-year. With this, the annualized expansion of the eurozone's GDP in the first quarter was 2,2%. The data for the fourth quarter compared to the third were revised from +0,3% to +0,4%. In the year-on-year comparison, the result changed from +1,6% to +1,7%.

Start of the Copom Meeting

Today marks the start of the final meeting of the Copom (Monetary Policy Committee) under the chairmanship of Alexandre Tombini. Economists expect the Central Bank to maintain the benchmark interest rate, Selic, at 14,25%, so that Tombini does not leave a change of direction in monetary policy for the next president of the monetary authority.

Cunha's fate and new developments in Lava Jato.

After six months in process, the proceedings against Congressman Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ) in the Chamber of Deputies' Ethics Committee could conclude today. The 21 members of the committee will begin discussing and voting on the opinion in favor of his removal this Tuesday morning.

However, the outcome may only occur on Wednesday or Thursday, should the debates extend for hours and the Order of the Day begins in the House plenary, which prevents any voting from taking place in the committees. Cunha is accused of lying to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on Petrobras when he denied the existence of foreign bank accounts in his name, which could constitute a breach of parliamentary decorum.

There was an expectation that the case's rapporteur, Marcos Rogério (DEM-RO), would also include in his report the accusations of receiving bribes to facilitate contracts with Brazilian state-owned companies. However, following instructions from the Board of Directors, Rogério did not consider these allegations in his vote.