Brazil stocks led higher by commodities, Wall St
(Updates to close)
SAO PAULO, June 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's stocks jumped on Thursday tracking sharp gains in U.S. stocks, while a rally in commodity prices boosted heavyweights Petrobras and Vale.
Brazil's Bovespa stock index .BVSP jumped 3.71 percent to 51,514.81 points -- the biggest one day gain in more than a month. The index rallied in March, April and May but is down so far in June.
The real currency (BRBY) strengthened 1.8 percent to 1.946 per dollar as the optimism raised appetite for riskier emerging market currencies.
Stock gains mirrored those on Wall Street where a surprising profit increase from Bed Bath & Beyond boosted retailers and investors were relieved after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional questioning ended.
Bernanke faced his toughest grilling yet by U.S. lawmakers on Thursday, where he said he had never threatened to fire Bank of America's management if they pulled the plug on a planned merger with Merrill Lynch. See [ID:nN25267831].
At the stock exchange, oil firm Petrobras (PETR4.SA) was the biggest weighted gainer, up 4.03 percent at 32.25 reais as oil prices surged.
Mining giant Vale (VALE5.SA) also jumped 4.1 percent to 30.69 reais as copper prices gained 1.7 percent. The company's chief executive Roger Agnelli said on Thursday Vale was in no rush to finish iron ore price talks with Chinese steelmakers and saw little possibility they could buy ore on spot markets. See [ID:nN25263152].
Higher metal prices also boosted steelmakers with Usiminas (USIM5.SA), Gerdau (GGBR4.SA) and CSN (CSNA3.SA) gaining between 4.2 and 5.7 percent.
Financial stocks also rose. Banco Bradesco (BBDC4.SA) 3.2 percent higher at 28.59 reais, Itau Unibanco (ITUB4.SA) rising 2.3 percent to 30.43 reais and Banco do Brasil (BBAS3.SA) up 6.2 percent at 21.30 reais.
Brazil's central bank said on Thursday it had extended to February 2010 from October 2009 a $30 billion swap line with the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Fed also extended foreign exchange swap lines with several other central banks.
Gol Linhas Aereas (GOLL4.SA) was the biggest percentage gainer one day after Chief Executive Constantino de Oliveira Jr said Brazil's second-largest airline has a "substantially" better cash position in the second quarter than the first three months of the year. See [ID:nN24277994].
Oliveira told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that the period of low liquidity and low cash generation "is over".
Gol shares rallied 7.7 percent to 11.50 reais and elsewhere in the sector, Tam (TAMM4.SA) jumped 4.3 percent to 20.64 reais.
Interest rare futures <0#DIJ:> were mixed with the central bank still expected to reduce borrowing costs further, albeit in smaller doses, as data at home continued to come in mixed.
Unemployment in Brazil unexpectedly fell in May, data showed on Thursday. Separately, central bank data showed bank lending also fell last month with default rates reaching their highest levels since 2000.
(By Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Diane Craft)
