Brazil real hits record low, central bank intervenes

Brazil's central bank intervened in the foreign exchange marketon Tuesday to ease selling pressure on the real, which had slumpe d to a record low following comments from Economy Minister Paulo Guedes that he was not worried about the currency's weakness.

The central bank's auction of a minimum lot of $1 million, shortly after President Jair Bolsonaro had said he would like to see the dollar fall, helped pushed the dollar more than two cents off a new record high perch of 4.2689 reais.

Traders said it was unclear how much the central bank had auctioned. Central bank president Roberto Campos Neto said earlier this month that any action in the FX market would be to alleviate illiquid trading conditions.

"It's chaos," said the head of trading at one bank in Sao Paulo, referring to the real's wild price swings on Tuesday.

The dollar's record high of 4.2689 reais was around two cents cent higher than the previous peak reached in 2015 when Brazil was mired in one of the deepest and most painful recessions in its history.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bolsonaro said he would like to see the dollar fall but also backed Economy Minister Guedes, whose comments on Monday were widely cited as the reason for the latest wave of selling.

"I saw that, and if that's what he said, then it's now said," Bolsonaro said in response to journalists' questions about Guedes' remarks in Washington late on Monday and the real's subsequent slide on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in the US capital on Monday, Guedes said a weakening exchange rate is a natural consequence of falling interest rates.

Brazil's central bank has cut the benchmark Selic rate by 150 basis points in recent months to a record-low 5.00%, and bank chief Campos Neto has said another 50 bps cut next month is likely.

The real has been one of the worst-performing emerging market currencies this year. Its decline accelerated this month after foreign bidders effectively failed to show up at a "mega" oil auction, meaning inflows into Brazil will be billions of dollars lighter than officials and traders had banked on.