Brazil stocks finish lower

22 Jul, 2007

Brazilian stocks fell on Friday from a record high set the previous day. The Bovespa index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange shed 1.17 percent to 57,442.74 points, closing the week at a break-even mark despite Thursday's intraday record of 58,292.88. The index has risen around 30 percent this year.
In the stock market, shares of Brazil's leading airlines were under pressure for a third day in a row. On Tuesday, a TAM Airbus A320 crashed in Sao Paulo and killed nearly 200 people, prompting brokerages to cut profit estimates for the sector.
Shares of TAM Linhas Aereas, Brazil's No 1 airline, closed 2.65 percent lower at 55 reais, paring bigger losses recorded earlier in the day. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, the country's second-largest carrier, also added to recent losses, shedding 1.2 percent to 52.05 reais.
Vivo Participacoes, Brazil's leading wireless provider, slumped 6.67 percent to 8.95 reais after posting a second-quarter net loss of 112.8 million reais, although 77 percent narrower than a year earlier.
Shares of state-controlled oil company and bellwether stock Petrobras edged 0.68 percent lower to 56.58 reais as oil prices slipped. The company's Argentine unit said it completed the sale of a 50 percent stake in Argentine power Transmission Company Transener.
Iron ore miner CVRD, the second most heavily weighted stock in the index, fell 0.99 percent to 81.3 reais. CVRD said on Friday that it bought a 51 percent stake in Australia's Belvedere coal project for $90 million. Brazil's currency, the real, which is near a seven-year high, weakened just 0.16 percent to 1.858 to the dollar as strong inflows of foreign currency capped a decline prompted by a drop in US stocks.

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