The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has represented a significant disruption to the global economy. The timing for Brazil has been especially unfortunate as the country entered 2020 with building growth momentum and an overall improving economic outlook pushing the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (EWZ) to a 5-year high in early January. The optimism has been pulled back since the outbreak spread in Brazil, which has followed social distancing guidelines resulting in a shutdown of most retail and people-facing service sector industries. The expectation is for a renewed recession this year.
EWZ has now underperformed global