Brazil’s Ibovespa rose nearly 1% toward 170,000 after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reaffirmed fiscal responsibility in a national address and said the government would work to create conditions for lower interest rates. Lula highlighted public debt and high borrowing costs as concerns while maintaining that social programs, fiscal rules and investment would remain priorities. The market had pressured the government to announce fiscal-adjustment measures after Brazilian assets fell following Lula’s late-October reelection. Major banks advanced, led by Bradesco’s 2% gain, while Itaú rose more than 1.5% and BB added 1%. Utilities also rose, with Axia gaining more than 0.5%. Vale climbed 1.5% despite weaker Chinese iron-ore prices, while Petrobras fell nearly 2% as hopes for US-Iran diplomatic progress halted the international oil rally. Brava, Caixa, Itaúsa, Magalu, TIM and JBS were scheduled to release quarterly results. Lula previously said investment would exceed 20% of gross domestic product through private-sector partnerships and that his government would seek lower interest rates, but he did not announce new measures in the address. Investors remain concerned that campaign spending pledges could conflict with higher primary-surplus targets, while Lula has yet to name a finance minister or other key officials. Brazil’s fiscal framework targets the primary budget, limits real spending growth to 70% of revenue increases, caps annual expenditure growth at 2.5% above inflation and sets a 0.6% floor. Lula won a fourth non-consecutive term on October 25 by defeating right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in a surprise runoff turnaround. Gross public debt has risen by more than 10 percentage points during his current term to 82.9% of GDP. The central bank held borrowing costs at 13.75% after halting its rate-cutting cycle as inflation worsened, while household debt reached 50.1% of income. Economists expect rates to remain high for longer and have lowered next year’s growth forecasts.