Brazil central bank sells $500 mln swaps; real off

Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:24am EDT
SAO PAULO, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank sold $500 million in dollar swap contracts in an auction on Tuesday, offering the securities for the 12th straight session to supply the foreign exchange market with liquidity.
The bank sold all 10,000 contracts on offer, each worth about $50,000.
The bank resumed selling dollar swaps two weeks ago for the first time in more than two years, one of several measures it has taken to add liquidity to the financial system.
Brazil's currency, the real BRBY, was trading at 2.201 per dollar shortly after the auction, down 3.58 percent on the day. (Reporting by Jenifer Correa; Writing by Stuart Grudgings; Editing by James Dalgleish)