Americas markets wrap: Stocks fall for the week on global woes
Mexican and Brazilian stocks gained on Friday but Latin American markets recorded strong losses over a week rocked by oil price volatility, concerns over European debt and Japan’s devastating earthquake.
Speculation that Brazil’s central bank will not raise interest rates as much as expected lifted Brazilian stocks today, pushing the Bovespa up nearly 1 per cent on Friday. The index fell 1.95 per cent this week. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Chinese data raises demand fears
Investors sold off risky assets on Thursday as violence in Libya and Chinese trade data raised fears over global growth, sending Latin American stocks lower. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Bovespa falls as Vale faces R$4bn bill
The ongoing conflict in Libya pushed oil prices higher and raised worries over global growth on Wednesday, sapping risk appetite and sending Latin American stocks lower.
Brazil’s Bovespa slid 1.1 per cent on its first trading following the Carnival holiday. Preferred shares of iron ore giant Vale slumped 2.9 per cent, the most since August, on softer metals prices and a report that the government is hitting the miner with a R$4bn bill for overdue royalty payments. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Oil pullback provides some relief
Latin American stocks were mixed in thin trading on Tuesday, with Mexican stocks seeing some support as oil prices pulled back from recent highs.
But low volumes show that “most investors are not going to take a position until the pattern is defined”, Fanuel Fuentes of Monex told Reuters. Continue reading »
ETFs: betting on Asian growth
Investors looking for exposure to some of Asia’s fastest growing markets will soon have a new option: a line of small-cap, single-country exchange-traded funds targeting Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The suite is the brainchild of IndexIQ, a Rye Brook, NY-based asset management firm specialising in alternative investments. The strategy is to tap into China’s economic growth through investing in some of its top trading partners, who provide the goods and services driving that growth, chief executive Adam Patti told beyondbrics. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Brazil’s real at strongest since August 2008
The oil spike weighed on Brazilian and Mexican stocks on Friday as worries over the violence in Libya sent crude prices over $104 a barrel in New York for the first time since September 2008, raising fears over global growth. Brazil’s currency hit its strongest level more than two and a half years, prompting the government to signal further intervention may be coming. Continue reading »
EM investors heat up global property
Cross-border flows into commercial property picked up in 2010, with emerging market investors driving a good deal of activity, according to a report from real estate group Jones Lang LaSalle.
Global cross-border investment jumped 60 per cent year-on-year to $130bn and made up 40 per cent of the $318bn market in direct commercial real estate last year, a level equal to those last seen in the property boom of 2006 and 2007, the group’s Global Capital Flows report says. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Brazil growth boosts steelmakers
Easing oil prices and encouraging US jobless claims figures helped lift Latin American stocks on Thursday, while investors in Brazil were cheered by last year’s strong GDP growth.
Brazilian stocks were buoyed by news the economy grew 7.5 per cent in 2010, the fastest rate since 1986, as consumer credit and investment surged. The Bovespa rose 1.3 per cent as steelmakers and banks gained. Gerdau rose 4.6 per cent while Itau added 2.5 per cent. The real firmed against the dollar after the central bank raised interest rates by an expected 50 basis points on Wednesday night. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Brazil industrial output lifts stocks
Latin American stocks gained Wednesday as Brazil’s industrial output unexpectedly rose in January and oil prices hit new highs. Continue reading »
Oil on the rise
Oil prices surged again on Tuesday afternoon, with Brent crude settling above $115 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate just below $100 – not as high as last Thursday’s dramatic spikes, but a reminder of how volatile commodity markets are likely to remain over the coming months.
As beyondbrics has noted, emerging markets face unique risks from surging oil prices, not least because they consume a proportionally higher amount of oil than their developed counterparts. There’s also the looming spectre of inflation – and just what measures central banks will take to contain it. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Brazil inflation concerns weigh on banks
Latin American markets fell Tuesday as investors pulled back from risky assets and oil prices spiked up again amid ongoing turmoil in the Middle East.
Brazil’s Bovespa shed 1.7 per cent as homebuilders extended their slump following yesterday’s budget cuts announcement and banks fell on concerns over credit expansion after consumer prices rose more than expected, spurring inflation concerns. Banco do Brasil retreated 2.7 per cent while real estate company Gafisa lost 3.3 per cent. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Brazil budget cuts hit homebuilders
Investors in Latin American stocks were cheered Monday by Saudi Arabia’s pledge to increase oil production, easing fears over crude prices as tensions continued in the Middle East. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Easing oil prices boost risk appetite
Most Latin American markets followed other risk assets higher on Friday as easing oil prices gave traders some relief at the end of a turbulent week. But Brazil’s Bovespa slipped after struggling for direction much of the day, while Chile’s peso fell against the dollar as the central bank extended intervention aimed at curbing the currency’s sharp appreciation.
Mexico’s IPC advanced 1.2 per cent but fell 1.7 per cent for the week. Rising copper prices helped miner Grupo Mexico tack on 2.5 per cent, while chemicals maker Mexichem surged 4.2 per cent and homebuilder Urbi rose 3.3 per cent. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Stocks mixed on oil price volatility
A late-day easing of oil prices took some pressure off risky assets, and most Latin American currencies firmed against the dollar, while Mexican and Brazilian stocks were little changed after moving in and out of positive territory over the day.
Brazil’s Bovespa added 0.06 per cent on Thursday as well received earnings boosted some heavyweight stocks, outweighing declines among steelmakers. Vivo, the wireless operator, gained 4.1 per cent after Q4 income more than quadrupled, while Klabin, the paper and pulp maker, soared 7.1 per cent after swinging to a profit of R225m in the fourth quarter. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Bovespa gains as oil breaches $100
Most Latin American markets fell further on Wednesday as the unrest in Libya boosted oil above $100 a barrel, raising fears about inflation and curbing risk appetite around the world.
In Brazil, however, rising crude prices lifted oil producers, pushing the Bovespa index 0.7 per cent higher for the day and offsetting falls among steelmakers and airlines. Continue reading »
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