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 Driven by Brazil's growing exports, strong currency and weak inflation and inspired by the New York Stock exchange rally, the Bovespa, São Paulo's stock exchange, went up 1.5%, this Thursday, May 3, breaking for the first time the 50,000-points psychological barrier and establishing a new record for the 15th time this year.
In 2007 alone the Ibovespa, the Bovespa's main index, has grown by 12%, representing the best Brazilian investment and making Brazil one of the world's best places to grow your money. 3.7 billion reais (US$ 1.83 billion) were negotiated during the day.
The Ibovespa went to a maximum of 50.318 points but later retreated closing at 50.218. The previous record occurred on April 25 when the index reached 49.675 points. Since 2003 the Bovespa has appreciated about 350%.
According to Austing Rating, an investment consultancy firm, Bovespa's shares have appreciated 100% in the last two years. Market analysts now seem to believe that Brazil's stock market might reach the 60,000 points barrier or get very close to it before the end of the year. If this happens the appreciation in 2007 will be around 35%, almost double the results of last year.
Some announcements brought the bull out of investors like the one made by open-capital company Gerdau, which informed that it had a first-quarter profit of US$ 429 million, representing a 4.4% growth. The firm's preferential shares went up 2.94% from the previous day, closing at 42.01 reais.
Reacting to a strong devaluation of the dollar the Brazilian central bank bought US$ 3 billion of the American currency. The bank sold all 63,050 reverse currency swap contracts offered at an auction. In past weeks it had sold an average of 12.700 contracts. The monetary authority paid 2.027 reais for dollar, which represents a 15% premium. This made the dollar rise a very modest 0.2%.
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