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Strategies & Market Trends : Telebras (TBH) & Brazil -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (1386)	4/1/1998 12:00:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil shrs seen flat to weaker after March's gain SAO PAULO, April 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks were seen flat to weaker Wednesday as steep overnight drops in Asian bourses could prompt players to re-evaluate their positions after March's sharp run up, brokers said. biz.yahoo.com

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (1386)	4/1/1998 12:03:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Telebras preopen up at 130-3/4 in light trade Reuters, Wednesday, April 01, 1998 at 08:57 SAO PAULO, April 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian federal holding Telebras (NYSE:TBR) preopen was trading higher at 130-3/4 in light volume on Instinet after starting at 130-1/2. Trade was light but interest in the issue was strong, an Instinet source said. The issue is the benchmark share on Brazilian stock markets and a leading American Depositary Receipt (ADR) in New York. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (1386)	4/1/1998 12:08:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Sao Paulo stock exchange sets new trading hrs Mon Reuters, Wednesday, April 01, 1998 at 11:38 SAO PAULO, April 1 (Reuters) - Brazil's Sao Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) said on Wednesday it will alter trading hours beginning next week. The new hours would keep Bovespa trade roughly in line with New York dealing when the United States shifts to daylight savings time this weekend. The Bovespa's session will start an hour earlier, and the day will be extended by one hour to allow traders a lunch break. In a statement, the bolsa said its electronic trading system will open at 1000 local time/0900 EDT and close at 1700 local time/1600 EDT, it said. Floor trading will run for the same hours, but will stop for lunch from 1300 local time/1200 EDT to 1400/1300 EDT, it said. The United States sets its clocks an hour ahead on Sunday at 0200 to go on daylight savings time. At present, the Bovespa session runs from 1100 local time/0900 EST straight through to 1700 local/1500 EST, giving traders no break. Trading hours were being changed "due to the start of summer hours in the northern hemisphere and to adjust transactions in the interests of both national and foreign investors," the bourse said. james.craig@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (1386)	4/1/1998 12:08:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22640

FOCUS-Brazil fin min Malan sees rate cut in April Reuters, Wednesday, April 01, 1998 at 11:58 By Ben Hirschler LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian Finance Minister Pedro Malan said on Wednesday that interest rates would fall again this month as the country, roiled by Asian turmoil, maintained its recovery. "The next meeting of the committee on monetary policy of the central bank is on April 15 -- and on April 15 you will know what is the new, lower level of interest rates," Malan told a meeting of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. A rate cut is widely expected in Brazilian markets but Malan declined to speculate by how much rates would fall. Last month, Brazil's Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) cut the prime lending rate to 28 percent, down from 43 percent at the height of the Asian financial crisis in late October. Malan said current rates were unsustainable, but added that the pace and scale of further reductions depended on progress to cut the public sector deficit. "The speed at which we will move (on cutting rates) over the medium term depends on the speed, and how confident we are, in changing the fiscal regime of the country on a durable basis," he said. "This will continue to be the main challenge to consolidate what we have achieved so far on the inflation front and in sustained growth." Brazil has experienced tough times since October, when the government doubled interest rates and introduced a major fiscal austerity package to head off attacks from speculators who saw the real as vulnerable due to the country's twin current account and fiscal deficits. Confidence has returned recently, evidenced by record net inflows of $12 billion in March, this week's larger-than-expected $1.25 billion 10-year global bond issue and an accelerating privatisation programme. Malan said Brazil would register its sixth successive year of economic growth in 1998, although the rate of increase would be less than expected before the Asian crisis. He declined to give a figure. At the same time, inflation would fall for the fifth year with most economists expecting an annual rate of between three and four percent, Malan said. The current account deficit was set to fall from last year's 4.15 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and foreign direct investment would continue to cover much of the gap. "It will be lower this year. The market projections I have seen over the last few weeks for the current account deficit this year range from 3.5 to 3.8 percent," he said. Brazil would be able to resolve its balance of payments problems without recourse to either protectionism or a change in exchange rate policy. "We are going to keep our exchange rate policy -- it is flexible enough," Malan said. Tackling public overspending was the top priority but Malan said the issue should be kept in perspective. The total public sector deficit rose to 5.89 percent of GDP in 1997, and including privatisation receipts the figure was 3.78 percent, he said. Brazil's privatisation programme is set to move up a gear this year with the sale of telecommunications and further power disposals, including this month's sale of Sao Paulo utility Eletropaulo. Malan said Brazil had accumulated nearly $50 billion since the privatisation programme started in 1991 -- and a similar amount was yet to come. "We are at an historical juncture in Brazil. We have a window of opportunity in the next two or three years, as we have this privatisation revenue coming in, to consolidate changes." uk.emergingmarkets.news@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service