Brazil's economic activity down, first time

Brazil's economic activity fell in June for the first time in 30 months, the country's central bank said Wednesday. The central bank's IBC-Br economic activity index fell 0.26 percent in June to 142.9 points, the first drop since December 2008. But compared with the same period of last year, the IBC-Br registered a 3.07 percent rise in June. The indicator rose 0.69 percent in the second quarter, showing a considerable slowdown compared with the 1.37 percent expansion in the first quarter. From January to June, the IBC-Br accumulated a 3.74 percent rise, and the figure reached 4.89 percent for the year to June. The IBC-Br measures the activity level in the industry, agriculture and tertiary sectors. It is considered as a preview of the GDP figures and is also taken into consideration by the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) to adjust Brazil's annual basic interest rate Selic. The official GDP figure for the second quarter is expected to be released by early September.