Brazil stocks creep up after worst week in a year
July 5th, 2008 | by admin |(Recasts; updates prices)
SAO PAULO, July 4 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks crept higheron Friday, after its worst week in nearly a year, in a sessionlow in liquidity due to U.S. Independence Day holiday, whilethe national currency also firmed.
The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Bovespa index.BVSP edged up 0.16 percent to end at 59,365.35 points afterfalling 7.7 percent this week as financial worries kept globalstock markets under pressure.
Brazil’s currency, the real BRBY, firmed 0.19 percent to1.608 per dollar.
State-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the topweighted blue-chip listing in the Bovespa, helped underpin themarket, rising 1.53 percent to 43.20 reais as U.S. crude pricescame off their highs, but kept above $144 a barrel onThursday.
Vale, Bovespa’s second most heavily-weighted play, rose 1.2percent to 43.21 reais.
Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (RIO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) began on Friday a series ofmeetings with potential investors in its $15 billion globalshare offer and said it will take orders for the deal from July11-15.
The local market regulator has cleared the offer. Theshares on offer will be priced after book-building is closed onJuly 16 and will only begin trading after that.
Interest rate futures <0#DIJ:> on the BM&F commodities andfutures exchange in Sao Paulo were broadly higher as analystscontinue to bet on more rate hikes in Latin America’s largesteconomy.
