Brazil election poll shows President Dilma Rousseff, Aecio Neves running neck-and-neck
Brazil President Dilma Rousseff and pro-business challenger Aecio Neves are running neck-and-neck ahead of a runoff election on October 26 a poll showed on Monday. The survey by research firm Vox Populi found 45% of voters favoring Rousseff and 44% for Neves, within the margin of error of 2.2 percentage points. Excluding undecided voters and spoiled or blank survey responses, Rousseff had 51% of valid votes against 49% for Neves.Vox Populi is one of Brazil's smaller pollsters, but its survey backed up the findings of larger polling firms Datafolha and Ibope, which also found the race too close to call in their polls last week.Neves has gained ground since his surprise performance in the first-round vote on October 5, when he bested environmentalist Marina Silva to place second behind Rousseff. On Sunday, Neves secured Silva's endorsement, increasing the odds of winning a crucial majority of her 22 million votes to unseat Rousseff and end 12 years of rule by her Workers' Party.Brazilian stocks soared on Monday as investors hoping for more business-friendly policies bet Neves could defeat Rousseff. The Bovespa stock index BVSP posted its strongest one-day jump in more than three years, while Brazil's currency