By Paulo Trevisani
BRASILIA--Brazil stocks were flat Thursday morning amid positive
U.S. job data, worrisome inflation data in China and earnings
announcements by local companies.
The main Sao Paulo index was trading at 55849 points at 9:55
a.m. EDT, up 0.08% from Wednesday's close of 55804 points, which
represented a 0.8% decline for the day.
Earlier Thursday, Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem SA
(BAK, BRKM5.BR) reported net profit growth of 49% in the first
quarter, to 227 million Brazilian reais ($112.9 million), up from
BRL152 million in the same period the year before. Net revenue rose
15% to BRL9.3 billion.
Braskem stock was down 3.26% to BRL8.32.
A decline in jobless claims in the U.S. was an upward impetus
for Brazilian stocks, which tend to be heavily influenced by the
U.S. market. Many Brazilians heavyweight stocks are traded in the
U.S. and the country is also an important trade partner for
Brazil.
However, Brazil's largest trade partner, China, reported an
uptick in inflation to 2.4% in April from 2.1% in March, reducing
the chances of Chinese authorities implementing measures to
stimulate the economy. China imports mainly iron-ore, soybeans and
other raw materials from Brazil.
Iron-ore producer Vale SA (VALE3) traded at BRL14.46, down 0.1%,
while state-owned oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4) was up
0.1% to BRL20.32.
Another oil company, OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA
(OGXP3), controlled by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, is
expected to report earnings after the markets close. Its stock was
down 0.6% at BRL1.75.
Brazil's largest publicly traded airline, Gol Linhas Aereas
Inteligentes SA (GOLL4), was up 1.1% to BRL12.33 and Brazil's
largest private-sector bank, Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITAUB), was
up 0.6% to BRL35.22.
Leading the declining stocks was real-estate developer
Brookfield Incorporacoes SA (BISA-B), a unit of Canada's Brookfield
Asset Management Inc. (BAM.A.T). It was down 4.66% to BRL1.00.
Another real-estate company, Gafisa SA (GFSA3), was leading the
gainers with a 2.11% increase in its stock, to BRL1.99.
Write to Paulo Trevisani at paulo.trevisani@dowjones.com
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