Brazil industry down snaps four-month string of gains

Brazil's industry snapped a four-month string of gains in January as auto output sharply declined, highlighting an uneven economic recovery. Industrial output fell 2.4 percent in January from the month before, government statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday, a larger decline than the 1.9 percent median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
That was the first underwhelming result for the nation's industry since September, adding to signs of reduced economic momentum following a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter gross domestic product reading. Auto production, which had shown signs of consistent strength in the second half of 2017, fell 7.6 percent in the month, helping to drag down industrial firms as a whole.