Bovespa Beats Biggest Stock Markets on Brazil Consumers, Steel

Brazil's Bovespa Index is beating the biggest stock markets this year on the fastest retail sales growth since at least 2001 and rising global demand for the country's metals, oil and sugar.
The 64-member index overtook the Dow average, the best performer in January, led by gains in Gerdau SA, Brazil's biggest steelmaker, and Cia. de Bebidas das Americas, the country's largest brewer. The Bovespa trades at 14.8 times its members' reported profit, compared with 15.9 for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
``We still see plenty of upside for these stocks,'' said William Landers, a fund manager at BlackRock Inc. in Plainsboro, New Jersey, who invests about 70 percent of the $7.8 billion in Latin American assets he manages in Brazil. ``Brazil still looks very attractive from a valuations perspective.''
In 64 – member index of the Dow average, the best performer in January, led by gains in Gerdau SA, Brazil's largest steelmaker and Cia. de Bebidas das Americas, the country's largest brewer. In Bovespa bidding 14.8 times its members have reported earnings, compared to 15.9 in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, data collected by Bloomberg show.
``We continue to see a lot up for these stocks,''said William Landers, a fund manager at BlackRock Inc., in Plainsboro, New Jersey, which invests about 70 percent of the 7.8 billion dollars in the Latin American assets it manages in Brazil.`` Brazil still looks very attractive in terms of price.''