Brazil's Real Advances on Climb in U.S. Consumer Confidence

By Adriana Brasileiro
Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's real advanced after consumer confidence rose in the U.S., the biggest buyer of Brazilian exports, in August.
The real climbed 0.1 percent to 1.6288 per U.S. dollar at 4:53 p.m. New York time, after most trading in Brazil had ended. Earlier, the real fell as much as 0.9 percent to 1.6450 per dollar as prices of metals and agricultural commodities weakened.
``The market is very volatile, tracking commodities and the U.S. market,'' said Reginaldo Galhardo, currency trading manager at Treviso Corretora de Cambio, a brokerage in Sao Paulo.
Crude oil rose more than $1 a barrel on forecasts that Hurricane Gustav may enter the Gulf of Mexico, home to more than a fifth of U.S. oil production. Crude oil is among Brazil's top three exports with iron ore and soybeans.
In the U.S., the Conference Board's confidence index jumped to 56.9, higher than economists had forecast, on easing gasoline prices. House prices in 20 major cities fell at a slower pace for the fourth straight month in June, the S&P/Case-Shiller index showed. The Commerce Department said new-home sales reached a three-month high in July.
The yield on Brazil's zero-coupon bonds due in January 2010 fell 5 basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 14.79 percent, according to Banco Votorantim.