Brazil Real Closes Marginally Weaker As Commodities Fall

Brazil Real Closes Marginally Weaker As Commodities Fall

SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazil's real closed marginally weaker on Friday, with most of the forex action coming from the central bank.

The real settled at BRL1.939 to the dollar in trading on the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange, or BM&F, after closing at BRL1.932 on Thursday.

Brazil's real is considered a commodity currency and often rises and falls with major commodity prices. Oil and metals prices closed lower Friday.

In other markets, interest rate futures contracts closed relatively unchanged at 8.75% for the January 2010 contract, compared with 8.78% on Thursday.

The contracts reflect investor expectations for annualized interest rates at future dates.

The Central Bank was the major actor in the forex market Friday, selling $272.5 million in dollar swap contracts and buying an unreported amount of dollars on the BM&F.

-By Kenneth Rapoza, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-11-2847-4541; kenneth.rapoza@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 26, 2009 15:40 ET (19:40 GMT)


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