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Brazilian and Latin American markets were in the black, but pulled back from earlier highs toward the end of today's session. Investors cheered a recession in record-high crude oil prices, which also greatly benefited U.S. shares.
Brazil and Mexico added to yesterday's gains, while Argentina continued to drift south on low volume.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa Index advanced 35.27 points, or 0.14%, while Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index rose 68.34 points, or 0.51%. Argentina's Merval Index gave up 1.61 points, or 0.11%.
In major U.S. economic reports, the consumer confidence index jumped to a three-year high of 105.8 in June from a revised 103.1 in May. Economists had expected confidence to climb to 105.0.
Brazilian issues continued to advance, alongside confidence in U.S. markets. A decline in crude oil prices also comforted investors, as Brazil is a net importer of the commodity.
In corporate news, a U.S. federal bankruptcy court handed down a preliminary injunction that prevents creditors from seizing Varig's leased aircraft.
A hearing is set for September 12 to review the preliminary injunction, as long as the air carrier continues to maintain the necessary payments on the aircraft.
Meanwhile, a major investment bank lifted its price target on state-run oil firm Petrobras to US$ 62 from US$ 51, as it believes the firm's fundamentals will remain strong next year.
Turning to deal reports, flat-steel maker Usiminas said it may purchase at least 10% in of the steel firm being formed by Argentina's Techint.
The new firm, which will include Techint's recently acquired Hylsamex, will be Latin America's largest steel producer with annual revenues reaching US$ 5 billion.
Mexican issues continued their upward momentum today, bolstered by a strong consumer confidence reading in the U.S., as that country is a critical trading partner for Mexico.
Also, Finance Minister Francisco Gil Diaz said the Mexican economy is set to meet the government's 2005 growth target of 3.5% to 4%.
Airline holding company Cintra surged, as a brokerage initiated coverage on the firm with a "buy" rating. The government plans to launch a tender process for Cintra's privatization, beginning in early July.
Also, Cemex announced that beginning tomorrow, trading in its Ordinary Participation Certificates and American Depositary Shares will reflect its previously announced stock split.
Argentine shares turned downward late in the session on low volume. Investors had a batch of economic reports to contend with. Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna announced last night that Argentina will commence talks with the International Monetary Fund regarding a new financial accord on July 16.
Indec, the national statistics agency, said that the final reading for industrial production showed an 8.5% jump in May from the year-earlier period and a 1.2% advance from April. May's capacity utilization rate edged down to 70.6% from 70.9%.
Meanwhile, Argentina's formal private sector employment rate advanced 0.8% in May and 8.8% from the year-earlier period. Separately, Torcuato di Tella University reported that confidence in the local government declined 3% in June from last month. The most recent decline brings the confidence index down to 2.31 from 2.37 in May.
Thomson Financial Corporate Group - www.thomsonfinancial.com
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The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.