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Brazil stocks close lower in thin end-month trade

SAO PAULO: Brazilian stocks closed lower Monday in thin trade as investors reduced their business at the end of the month and ahead of the Carnival holidays, traders said.

Heavier interest in stock index futures also siphoned cash away from the market, they said.

"The market was dead today," said Tomas Taterka, head of equities at Banco Cidade. "Many people were not around because of the end of the month."

The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange's Bovespa index, a benchmark share index in Latin America's biggest bourse, finished 1.4 percent lower at 17,542 points. Turnover was a lower-than-average 574 million reais ($280 million).

Traders noted the fall came despite a big rise in the Dow Jones industrial average, but was in line with the downturn of the Nasdaq technology-heavy index.

"Again, we can see the Nasdaq is Brazil's new benchmark," Taterka said.

Federally owned oil and gas giant Petrobras finished 2.1 percent lower at 459 reais as investors took profits on last week's gains, made on news of a 7 percent hike in gas prices to absorb the rise in international oil prices.

Ordinary stock in electric utility Cesp rose 6.9 percent to 7.5 reais on a small number of orders, which traders said would not have moved the stock too much on an ordinary day. Preferred stock fell 1.7 percent.

Unibanco, Brazil's third largest private bank, fell 1.4 percent before it confirmed after closing its purchase of Credibanco, a local investment bank controlled by the Bank of New York. Earlier in the day, Unibanco had said it was in talks with the BoNY.

The Bovespa is still up 7 percent on the month and up 2.6 percent on the year.

Brazil's Carnival celebrations begin this weekend and markets in Brazil will be closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning.-Reuters