Seesawing Brazil shares close 1.96 pct higher
Friday August 28, 5:45 pm Eastern Time
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Brazilian shares closed 1.96 percent higher Friday after
seesawing between gains and losses as the market tried to decouple from Wall Street and the
global financial market crisis, traders said.
The Bovespa (^BVSP - news) index of 58 leading shares closed 130 points higher at 6,746 in
volatile trade that saw the index swing from a high of 6,890 to a low of 6,530 points.
''We are the tail of the dog and when it moves we wag further,'' one trader said.
Some traders said there was some buying in late trade as investors tried to cover short positions
ahead of the weekend.
They said there might be room for further, tentative gains early next week as long as the outside
scenario cooled off. Brazil's heavyweight stock Telebras (TELB4.SA), which accounts for half
the market volume and can pull it along, finished the week 3.66 percent higher at 87.70 reais.
Brazilian stocks also gave signs of recovery by surging up at the start on Friday as investors took
advantage of a calm in European markets to snap them up at 21-month lows.
There was also signs of hope in the foreign exchange market and for the emerging market
benchmark, Brazil's C-bond.
But by midday, stocks had slumped back and even into slight losses following heavy selling on
Wall Street, where there were panic sales of U.S. bank stocks for the second day running.
Investors have been dumping Brazilian shares for the past two weeks on fears Russia's financial
crisis would spread to other emerging markets, making it difficult for Brazil to roll over its large
short-term public debt.
But other fundamentals remain strong and Telebras in particular is seen by investors as worth
holding onto longer term.
Two other blue-chip shares closed higher Friday, while Petrobras preferred (PETR4.SA) fell
0.79 percent to 125.00 reais. Vale do Rio Doce (VALE5.SA) gained 3.83 percent to 16.00
and Eletrobras (ELET6.SA) rose 0.53 percent to 19.10.
The C-bond (BRAZILC=RR) was 3.5 points higher at 52.75 percent.
More Quotes and News:
BRSP BOVESPA IND (^BVSP - news)
Related News Categories: international, US Market News
Help
Copyright c 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
