Dollar opens slightly higher, with new employment data on the radar

Investors evaluate new employment data in Brazil, amid signs of a slowdown in the Brazilian economy. Furthermore, the market also continues to wait for a definition for Lula's (PT) new economic team. New activity indicators in the United States are also on the radar.

The unemployment rate was 5.2% in the third quarter of this year. The indicator, released this Friday (30) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) shows a job market that is still resilient, even amid signs of a slowdown in the country's economy.

In the political scenario, the search for the definition of Lula's new economic team (PT) remains on the radar. This is because the names chosen should help set the tone for the future of public accounts, amid pressure from investors and businesspeople for a fiscal adjustment by the government. Possible names for open positions on the Central Bank board are also in the spotlight.

The economic agenda still relies on a series of American indicators. The day before, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) rose 0.5% in September, amid the rise in gasoline and other goods, while the American economy grew more than expected in the third quarter. The data reinforces the expectation of a new interest rate hike at the next Fed meeting.

The TCU approved on Wednesday (28) a proposal for the reference rate of the Contribution on Goods and Services (CBS), a new tax approved within the scope of the tax reform on consumption, to be 11.3% in 2027.

The amount will be sent to the National Congress, which may or may not agree. It will be up to the Senate to set the final value of the rate, which will be charged from 2027, until December 15th.

In addition to CBS, there will be a transitional collection of the Goods and Services Tax (IBS) at a total rate of 0.1% in 2027 and 2028, divided between states (0.05%) and municipalities (0.05%). This rate begins to rise gradually from 2029.

With the tax reform, taxes on consumption will follow the Value Added Tax (VAT) model, adopted in much of the world, with non-cumulative collection.

This means that the tax will be collected at each stage of the production chain, but companies will be able to deduct taxes paid in previous stages.

For example: if VAT is 20%, a product sold to the final consumer for R$100 will incur tax, which, at the end of the chain, will total R$20, after credit and compensation mechanisms between the different production and marketing companies. See what changes for companies in 2027.

Another point of attention is the approval, by the National Council for Financial Policy (Confaz), of the annual update of ICMS rates on gasoline, diesel and cooking gas.

In Asia, Chinese shares closed lower on Friday, recording their biggest monthly loss since the beginning of 2016, as a global sell-off in shares in the artificial intelligence sector weighed on market sentiment.

The SSEC, Shanghai Index, and the CSI300, which brings together large Chinese companies, fell 1.4%. In Japan, the Nikkei fell 2.12% and the Kospi, from South Korea, devalued 3.48%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.5%.