Brasília, January 7, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - One day after the Central Bank announced that it would begin to purchase dollars on the market, to increase the country's international reserves, the American currency registered a 0.20% increase, quoted at R$ 2.872 for sellers and R$ 2.874 for buyers.

For its part, the country risk index, which measures international investors' confidence in the Brazilian economy, fell 0.93%, to 468 points. (DAS)