(Updates to close) Stocks | Currencies | Brazil BRASILIA, June 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's stocks eased onWednesday, reversing direction as Wall Street also pared gainsafter the U.S. Federal Reserve reiterated concerns about theeconomic outlook at the end of its policy meeting. Brazil's Bovespa stock index .BVSP shed 0.28 percent to49,672.12 points having rallied nearly 2 percent earlier in thesession The index is down 6.6 percent on the month. The local real currency (BRBY) also pared earlier gains andtraded broadly unchanged to 1.982 per dollar.
On Tuesday, itrallied 2.1 percent -- its biggest one day gain in over amonth. Trade has been volatile in recent days as hopes the worldeconomy is recovering have given way to worries that theoutlook is uncertain. The Federal Reserve kept overnight interest rates in a zeroto 0.25 percent range -- the level reached in December -- andrepeated that rates would likely stay unusually low for sometime. The comments overrode optimism sparked bystronger-than-expected U.S.
durable goods data and the EuropeanCentral Bank's biggest-ever liquidity injection that boostedglobal equities earlier The losses were led by commodity stocks. The biggestweighted stock on the index, Petrobras (PETR4.SA) shed 1.27percent to 30.99 reais as oil prices eased. Mining giant Vale (VALE5.SA) also shed 2.35 percent to29.48 reais even as copper prices rose. Steel mill demand for iron ore has picked up from lows infourth quarter of 2008, the Brazilian iron ore miner said onWednesday, but the company expects a "slow recovery" of prices.See [ID:nN24200908].
Pessimism also hit financial shares, which continued tounderperform. Banco do Brasil (BBAS3.SA) shed 1.04 percent to20.05 reais, while Banco Bradesco (BBDC4.SA) and Itau Unibanco(ITUB4.SA) both traded flat. Elsewhere in the financial services sector, VisaNet, theBrazilian affiliate of credit card network Visa Inc (V.N), saidon Wednesday that it had banned 19 brokerages fromparticipating in its massive initial public offering becausethey had released unapproved advertising material about thesale See [ID:nN24153370]. Brokerages banned included Bradesco SA Corretora and AgoraSenior Corretora, both units of Brazil's second largestprivate-sector bank Bradesco (BBDC4.SA), as well as ABN AmroReal and ICAP do Brasil. Interest rate futures traded mixed, with analystsstill expecting the central bank to ease monetary policyfurther, albeit in smaller doses. (Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Diane Craft) Stocks Currencies Brazil.
(Recasts, adds comments on warrants and bylines) Regulatory News | Bonds By Karey Wutkowski and Glenn Somerville WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - The new overseer of theU.S. government's $700 billion bank bailout fund said onWednesday an intently awaited program to cleanse toxic assetsfrom banks' balance sheets should soon be ready to roll out.Herb Allison told a Congressional Oversight Panel there hasbeen progress in developing public-private partnerships topair investors and the government in buying poorly performingassets from banks."I'm confident that very soon we'll be launchingpartnerships," Allison said.In a wide-ranging exchange of questions and answers,Allison said there were signs the U.S. economy was on the mendbut stressed there could be no let-up on recovery efforts."Our financial system and our economy remain vulnerable,with unemployment still rising, house prices falling andpressure on commercial real estate continuing to build," hesaid.Allison also said that Treasury will "soon" publishguidance on how to value warrants that the government receivedwhen it injected capital into banks and that the banks areable to buy back as they regain stability and pay back thecapital."We'll soon be publishing on our website our approach tovaluing the warrants and if it comes to that, disposing thewarrants," he said. The warrants to buy shares were intended to provide ameans for taxpayers to share in the profits of banks thatbenefited from being able to draw on taxpayer-funded help.Allison was confirmed by the Senate last week as Treasuryassistant secretary to head the Treasury Department's Officeof Financial Stability, which manages the Troubled AssetRelief Program, known as TARP. Congress approved TARP lastyear under the former Bush administration.He noted that about 30 companies that received cashinjections from the government have repaid $70 billion andadded that about $5 billion has been received in dividends onstock the government got in return for investing in firms.Allison, a former chief executive of mortgage financecompany Fannie Mae, replaces Neel Kashkari, who was appointedto head TARP by the former Bush administration. Kashkaricarried over in the Obama administration until early May.OPTIMISTIC ABOUT BANKSAllison expressed confidence that so-called public-privatepartnerships to cleanse toxic assets from banks' balance bookswill soon be launched. The partnerships are intended to pairprivate investors with the government to finance purchases ofpoorly performing mortgages and other holdings that might thenbe sold in the future at a profit while relieving banks ofcarrying them."We've made a great deal of progress," Allison said.