Brazil real weakens as central bank announces swap auction

RIO DE JANEIRO: The Brazilian real weakened about half a percentage point on Monday after the central bank intervened in the market, signaling it does not want the currency to gain past the level of 1.95 per US dollar.

The bank said it was selling up to 30,000 reverse currency swaps, derivative contracts designed to weaken the real, which had been trading slightly below 1.95 per dollar since Friday.

The real last traded at 1.9563 per dollar, 0.5 percent weaker than Friday's close.