|
Brazilian shares moved lower Tuesday, June 20, amid uncertainty over domestic and overseas monetary policy. Argentine shares also went down, while Mexico bounced back from sharp declines Monday.
Brazil's Bovespa Index receded 265.21 points, or 0.78%. Mexico's benchmark Bolsa jumped 199.40 points, or 1.13%, and Argentina's Merval Index tumbled 28.25 points, or 1.79%. Brazilian investors are increasingly wary about monetary policy, with some saying the Brazilian Central Bank may call a halt to its recent monetary loosening policy. A pause in rate cuts could come as a response to recent emerging-market volatility, they said. Brazil's Selic base interest rate is currently 15.25%, despite eight consecutive rate cuts. In economic news, the Fipe research foundation said that the consumer price index for São Paulo fell 0.50% in the four weeks ended June 15, compared with a 0.38% decline in the four weeks ended June 7. The most recent fall was sharper than expected by analysts. In corporate reports, CVRD rose, after Chinese steelmakers agreed to a 19% iron-ore price increase with BHP. A similar deal is expected to be announced by CVRD later this week. Elsewhere, Mexican stocks recovered today, rising sharply in midday trading, after starting the week under heavy selling pressure. Mexican stocks had been under pressure, along with other emerging-market assets, amid fears of rising global interest rates. Meanwhile, investors are also looking forward to the Bank of Mexico's monthly policy meeting this Friday, in which the overnight lending rate is expected to remain unchanged. On the corporate front, Cemex climbed, after a major investment bank initiated coverage of the cement giant at "overweight," saying the company's long-term growth potential isn't reflected in the price and that the recent selloff presents a good buying opportunity. Argentine shares slid as the local market played catch-up after being closed for a national holiday Monday. There were few financial news items available to steer trading today. Trading volume remained low. Thomson Financial - www.thomsonfinancial.com
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
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.