|
Latin American issues extended, and handily outpaced, yesterday's gains, as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points, in line with expectations. Even more encouraging to Latin American shares was a hint of a pause to come.
Brazil's Bovespa Index rallied 1652.02 points, or 4.74%. Mexico's benchmark Bolsa surged 806.50 points, or 4.46%, while Argentina's Merval Index jumped 57.39 points, or 3.52%. Brazilian issues rallied today, building momentum following an expected move on interest rates by the U.S. Fed. Interest rates were lifted by 25 basis points to 5.25%, and indications were given that the rate-tightening cycle could be nearing an end. Closer to home, Brazil's National Monetary Council set the country's IPCA consumer price inflation for 2008 at 4.5%, while reaffirming the same target for 2006 and 2007. Meanwhile, the São Paulo Federation of Industries, or Fiesp, announced that industrial production in São Paulo advanced a seasonally adjusted 2.7% in May from April. The latest reading surged 9.3% compared to the year-ago period. In corporate reports, Aracruz is planning to expand its pulp output at an existing unit based in Rio Grande do Sul from the current 430,000 metric tons per year to 1.3 million metric tons by 2015. The paper and pulp firm said it may invest as much as US$ 1.3 billion in the project. The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading of steelmaker Arcelor Brasil's shares due to the potential impact the merger of its parent firm, Arcelor, with Mittal Steel may have on the firm. Mexican shares rallied on the session, following yesterday's more muted gains. Investors managed to brush aside their anticipation for the presidential election results this Sunday. Positive investor sentiment regarding a potential pause in U.S. rate hikes lent support to global markets today. Select corporate reports also supported the local market. A major investment bank upgraded Homex to ''buy'' from ''neutral,'' as the brokerage believes the firm will continue to perform well regardless of Sunday's outcome. Argentine stocks also took part in the broad market rally today. President Nestor Kirchner said that the country posted a record trade surplus of US$ 4.125 billion in May. In corporate news, a major investment bank lifted its rating on fixed-line provider Telecom Argentina to "peer perform" from "underperform." The brokerage also increased the firm's earnings estimates for 2006 and 2007. Thomson Financial - www.thomsonfinancial.com
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
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.