The Brazilian markets had been closed for four days to celebrate Easter holiday.
The reason for the bullish state of the Brazilian markets seems to be the good news coming from the US economy, especially the healthy number of new jobs created in the American labor market in March, which should dispel a possible crisis in that country.
The jobs data were released Good Friday when the stock markets were closed in both Brazil and the US and only were felt today in Brazil.
On another economic front, exports from Brazil yielded US$ 2.528 billion last week, or US$ 632 on average per business day, a 16% increase in the daily average compared with April last year.
Imports, on the other hand, totaled US$ 1.669 billion, or US$ 417 million on average per business day, 11.6% more than in April 2006. The trade balance for the week recorded a US$ 859 million surplus. The data were disclosed today ) by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
In the accumulated result for the year, Brazilian exports reached US$ 36.447 billion, a 13.1% increase compared with the same period last year.
Imports totaled US$ 26.89 billion, 24.1% more than in the same period in 2006. The trade balance for the year stands at a US$ 9.557 billion surplus.