Brazil's real plunges nearly 12% and stock trading is halted after Lula's shock comeback defeat of Flávio Bolsonaro
Flávio Bolsonaro reacts to his defeat in the Brazilian presidential election, in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured 51.7 per cent of the vote after a Supreme Court ruling extended voting hours in Bahia.Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving his sentence under house arrest, lost to Lula da Silva in 2022 — no candidate trailing after a Brazilian first round has ever won a runoff.
Flávio Bolsonaro's challenge centres on a two-hour voting extension ordered by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who previously served as Lula's lawyer. Both campaigns had requested the additional time. Kássio Nunes Marques, the electoral court chief appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, concluded that the extension had no bearing on the final result. By Monday, Flávio Bolsonaro had dropped the annulment push and pledged to build an organised opposition.
Lula, 80, won 51.79 per cent to 48.21 per cent, a gap of 4.4 million votes.
The real plunged nearly 12 per cent, and Bovespa trading was halted by a circuit breaker.
