By Brittany Levine
Brazilian shares rose Friday, continuing their best week since
July, as energy and telecommunication companies boosted the
index.
The Bovespa gained 467 points, or 0.8%, to end at 60,703. The
index added about 4% since last Friday. From July 10 through July
17, the index surged about 6%. On Wednesday, the index closed above
the 60,000 level for the first time since July 21, 2008.
Earlier in the week, Brazil's Central Bank President Henrique
Meirelles had encouraged businesses to invest, saying that the
economy must expand to protect against inflationary pressures.
Shares of oil producer Petrobras SA (PBR) added 0.2%, steel
maker Gerdau SA (GGB) advanced 0.2% and mining giant Vale SA (RIO)
added 1.1%.
Also, shares of the world's largest beef producer, JBS SA ,
gained 1.5% after Moody's Investors Service said Friday it has
changed its outlook on JBS to positive from stable, following the
company's agreement to purchase 64% of bankrupt poultry producer
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (PPC) for $800 million in cash.
Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management,
said he thinks the Bovespa is going to continue to grow, especially
the housing and real estate markets.
He pointed to Gafisa SA(GFA), a home builder that he thinks will
gain in the long term but may pull back in the next few months.
Gafisa's shares rose 0.09%.
"The emerging markets have led this worldwide rally, but some of
the leaders have taken back," Lutts said, referring to a dip in
Mexico's shares. "It's just adjusting to a little bit of a frothy
market."
Mexico's IPC fell 75 points, or 0.3%, to end at 29,942. On
Thursday, the IPC closed at 30,017.7, a 15-month high.
The Bank of Mexico announced that it would not change interest
rates, and the bank's president gave a positive outlook for
Mexico's economic future Friday morning.
As expected, the bank left its overnight rate unchanged at 4.5%
for a second straight month. It said it hopes the economy will
improve after a recent rough run resulting from the U.S. recession,
according to a statement on its Web site.
"The most recent indicators of industrial production, employment
and consumer confidence seem to indicate that the economy has hit
bottom and is beginning a phase of expansion," the bank said.
Among declining Mexican stocks were airport operators and
telecommunications providers.
Shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte fell 2.8% and
Maxcom Telecomunicaciones SA (MXT) slid 2.7%.
Argentina's Merval fell 0.5% to end at 2007.6 and Chile's IPSA
gained 0.7% to close at 3,297.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) advanced 0.3% to end
at 1,068 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.4% to
close at 9,820.