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Latin American markets ended in positive territory, with Brazil leaping forward on pleasing economic data. Mild bargain-hunting after Tuesday's losses also helped. Wednesday's gains were also attributed to foreign inflows, amid declines in U.S. markets.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa Index jumped 778.30 points, or 2.59%, while Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index climbed 170.94 points, or 1.10%. Argentina's Merval Index added 14.76 points, or 0.90%.
Brazilian shares rallied on upbeat sentiment about the economy, and as foreign investors continued to channel funds in the region, amid weakness in North American shares. High oil prices due to Hurricane Rita and worries about the impact of the hurricane wave on the economy plagued U.S. markets again yesterday.
In domestic data, Brazil posted a current account surplus of US$ 822 million in August, below the US$ 1.75 billion registered a year ago, but still signaling strength in the economy.
Also, investors shrugged off mixed news on the political front. A poll showed that President Lula's approval rating fell to 44% in September from 56% in June. Also, the lower House speaker resigned amid corruption charges.
In company action, Petrobras was in the spotlight, thanks to surging oil prices and after the company stated Tuesday it had found gas reservoirs of high quality off the U.S. Gulf coast. Also, Petrobras and electricity company Eletrobrás inked a deal to cooperate in studies and projects for electric energy generation.
In research, an investment bank noted that CVRD will be one of the primary beneficiaries of continued strong iron ore prices through 2010.
However, an investment bank downgraded steelmaker CSN to "neutral" from "buy" due to limited upside to a new price target.
Elsewhere, a local court reported receiving a formal proposal from a businessman interested in taking a controlling stake in struggling airline Varig, according to news services.
Mexican issues, meanwhile, rose as well, hitting new records. In today's data, July retail sales jumped 3.3% from a year ago, or 0.8% from the prior month, the 31st consecutive monthly increase for the indicator.
Also, in corporate moves, Walmex rebounded from yesterday's weakness caused by news that U.S. parent Wal-Mart had agreed to buy a third of Central American Retail Holding from Holland's Royal Ahold NV for an undisclosed amount and is seeking a controlling interest in the company.
Argentine stocks advanced, in line with regional counterparts. Of note, gross domestic product grew 0.7% in July from June, or 7.8% from the prior year, lower than expectations for 8% growth, but still demonstrating robust expansion.
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.