Brazil: Stocks close up nearly 10%

[SAO PAULO] The Sao Paulo stock exchange closed up 9.69 per cent on Tuesday, following world markets higher on optimism about plans to fight the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Led by oil and airline stocks, which had been among the biggest losers in recent days, Brazil's Ibovespa index rebounded after falling 5.22 per cent on Monday.

State-run oil company Petrobras closed up 16 per cent, while airlines Gol and Azul closed up 17 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.

"It's still too early to draw any conclusions, but we are seeing less volatility" than last week, said trading analyst Thiago Salomao of brokerage firm Rico Investimentos.

The Brazilian real strengthened 1.1 per cent, to 5.08 to the dollar.

Global markets got a boost from news the US Federal Reserve has launched an unprecedented plan to buy unlimited amounts of Treasury bonds and extend loans to small and medium businesses hit hard by the pandemic.

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Still, the Sao Paulo stock exchange, Latin America's biggest, has lost more than 40 per cent since it hit its all-time high on January 23, the day the spreading outbreak led Chinese authorities to impose a quarantine on the city of Wuhan, its epicentre.

AFP