Brazilian industrial production edges higher in April

Industrial production in Brazil edged slightly higher in April, led by a second consecutive large jump in the output of capital goods, a key leading indicator for the rest of the economy.

Nevertheless, Andres Abadia, senior international economist at Pantheon Macroeconmics, said: "we expect no significant recovery this year as domestic demand will remain extremely weak in the foreseeable future, offsetting any gains coming from the external sector."

Total industrial output rose by 0.1% month-on-month in April, easily outstripping the 0.9% fall which economists had penciled-in.

In comparison to a year ago, industrial production slid by 7.2%, which was significantly less than the 11.5% drop seen in the previous month.

Economists had anticipated a fall of 8.5%.

Production of capital goods increased by 1.2% month-on-month, following a 3% jump in the month before.

That increase came alongside a rise of 0.5% in the production of intermediate goods after two consecutive monthly falls.

Consumer goods output fell by 0.9% after rising by 3.1% in March.