U.S.-listed shares of Brazilian fintech and financial services companies rose by double digits in premarket trading on Monday following news that South America’s largest country is heading into a runoff election.
Right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro managed to win 47% of the vote, surprising some poll watchers, while incumbent left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received 47%, the Rio Times reported.
The two will face off again later this month as neither candidate scored the 50% needed for a full victory.
Bolsonaro, a senator and the son of imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro, campaigned on a fiscal adjustment and spending cuts seen as being more investor friendly, though some have wondered if “he would ultimately prove more fiscally responsible than Lula,” as Reuters reported.
At 80, Lula is serving his third non-consecutive term, having defeated then-incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro in 2023 after serving as president during an earlier stretch between 2003 and 2011.
Either way, the markets are reacting.
Nu Holdings (NYSE: NU), owner of Latin America’s largest digital bank, saw its stock price jump more than 12% in premarket trading as of this writing.
Shares of Brazil’s Banco Bradesco (NYSE: BBD) likewise rose by over 12%.
PagBank, a payments platform and financial services company based in São Paulo, saw its U.S.-listed stock price (NYSE: PAGS) jump more than 15%.
Brazil’s runoff election will take place on October 25.