The Supreme Court of Brazil’s decision to jail Lula has all but scuppered his hopes of running for office this year, and the former President’s woes prompted investors to pile into the country’s stocks this week.

Brazil’s Bovespa had increased by more than 2% on Thursday morning, and was spotted at 85,330 points by mid-afternoon, a day-to-day gain of roughly 1.1%.

Amid the jump, three companies advanced preparations for their IPOs and all are scheduled to price before the end of April. Two healthcare companies – Hapvida and Notre Dame Intermedica – set price ranges, followed by AT&T’s DirecTV LatAm unit Vrio Corp., which outlined terms on Thursday.

The media and telecoms unit is expected to visit accounts in the US and in London over the next two weeks, before placing the shares on April 18.

One ECM banker was buoyed by the timing of the offerings not only due to the bump in the Bovespa, but because investor optimism for new stocks remained in play.

“The slowdown was inevitable, but there is a lot of money to put to work, if you have the right story,” he said.

After April, Latin American equities enter a staleness period through May. In June, some offerings could emerge, but Brazil’s upcoming presidential election may leave issuers and investors reluctant to bet on untried stocks.

Despite considerable gains over the last 12 months that led to the Bovespa hitting its highest-ever point in February, Brazil’s equity market felt the effects of a sell-off in US Treasuries, US tech stocks and interest rate hikes through March.

The White House’s talks of import tariffs and a potential trade war between the US and China also sparked unrest in Brazil’s equity market. As Latin America’s largest economy, Brazil remains heavily exposed to tariffs on its exported commodities such as iron ore.

This volatility, combined with Toys R’ Us’ woes, led toy retailer Ri Happy Brinquedos to cancel a planned IPO last month.

The ruling on Wednesday forces former President Lula da Silva to serve his prison sentence but he will still appeal a corruption conviction against him.

Brazilians go to the polls in October to select a new President, Vice President, National Congress, state Governors and Vice Governors as well as state Legislative Assemblies.