By Alexander Ragir
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s Bovespa stock-index futures fell as metals prices declined and Itau Corretora cut its estimate for economic growth this year.
Bovespa futures fell 217, or 0.5 percent, to 40,050 at 7:11 a.m. New York time.
Itau, the brokerage unit of Brazil’s biggest bank, cut its economic growth forecast to 1.5 percent this year from 2.6 percent, according to a note to clients. The Bloomberg Base Metals 3-Month Price Commodity Index fell 1.9 percent to 115.38.
The Bovespa index gained 5.3 percent this year even as credit losses and writedowns topped $1 trillion in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the U.S., Japan and Europe fell into the first simultaneous recessions since World War II.
Yesterday, Brazilian stocks rose 0.4 percent on speculation the central bank will make bigger cuts in interest rates to boost the economy.
Economists predict the central bank will cut the rate to 13 percent at its next policy meeting on Jan. 21, according to the median of six estimates compiled by Bloomberg. A reduction would be the first since September 2007.
“Forget about decoupling,” wrote Itau’s chief economist Guilherme da Nobrega. “The global crisis is here, and the monetary response will probably come sooner rather than later.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Alexander Ragir in Rio de Janeiro at aragir@bloomberg.net
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