Brazil's central bank holds auction to buy dollars

SAO PAULO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank said on Tuesday it would hold an auction to buy dollars on the spot foreign exchange market as part of an ongoing effort to boost international reserves.

The Brazilian real BRBY was nearly 2 percent weaker at 1.829 per U.S. dollar shortly after the announcement.

The bank resumed buying dollars in early October after a two-month hiatus from the currency market. It had previously bought greenbacks daily for months, helping lift Brazil's reserves to a record of over $176 billion. (Reporting by Silvio Cascione; Translated by Elzio Barreto; Editing by James Dalgleish)