Brazil's currency gains on exports, stocks slip

Brazil's currency strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Monday after the government said the trade surplus for this month has so far hit $1.7 billion.

That positive result allowed the the local currency, the real , to sidestep pressure from high oil prices and gain 0.18 percent early to 2.852 per U.S. dollar.

Stocks, however, slipped. The Bovespa index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange was down 0.61 percent at 23,222 points in early trade on fears the central bank will hike its benchmark Selic rate by half a percentage point to 16.75 percent on Wednesday, more than the more modest quarter percentage point most analysts expect.

(From Reuters, October 18, 2004)

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