Brazil's Lula Up in Brazil Presidential Race Poll
Lula, who is making his fourth run for the presidency for the leftist workers party, edged up to 39 percent support in a Vox Populi poll of voting intentions taken on July 2-3, from 38 percent in a similar poll taken at the end of June.
The poll of 1,988 people, obtained by Reuters, also showed Serra, who is running for the ruling PSDB Party and is favored by business interests, falling to 17 percent support from 21 percent. This broke a gentle upward trend seen in recent similar polls, Reuters reported.
Former finance minister Ciro Gomes, who represents the popular Socialist Party and two other leftist parties, gained 2 percentage points to 18 percent, overtaking Serra.
But the gap between them is smaller than the poll's 2.2 percentage point margin of error, leaving the race still competitive.
Gomes describes himself as a center-left Social Democrat.
Analysts had expected him to advance somewhat after an aggressive media campaign in June.
The former governor of Rio de Janeiro state, Anthony Garotinho, also from the opposition, edged up to 12 percent from 11 percent in the Vox Populi poll.
Polls have been the focus of intense market speculation for weeks amid fears of mismanagement of Latin America's biggest economy and its $250 billion debt load should Lula turn his big poll lead into a victory.
The talk of Gomes gaining on Serra dragged Brazil's embattled stocks and currency lower on Friday despite a Wall Street rally.
Investors hope that Serra will win and continue Cardoso's market-friendly policies like inflation targeting, Fiscal responsibility and debt commitments.
Lula has pledged to respect the Cardoso government's economic pillars and honor debt obligations, but his past socialist rhetoric still spooks investors.
Two more polls carried out this week are expected in the next few days. Candidates' campaigns in the streets officially kick off on Saturday.