Brazil’s real strengthened, defying a slump in emerging-market currencies and reversing an earlier loss, after the central bank stepped in to boost the supply of dollars in the market.
The currency advanced 0.3 percent to 3.7743 per dollar as of 1:49 p.m. in Sao Paulo. The central bank announced it will auction as much as $2 billion in foreign-exchange credit lines on March 9. The bank held a similar sale on Feb. 29.
Tuesday’s gain extends the real’s month-to-date rally to 6.5 percent, the biggest jump among the world’s most-traded currencies. Brazil’s real has gotten a bounce in recent days from speculation that a corruption scandal will lead to the downfall of President Dilma Rousseff’s government. On Tuesday, newspapers in Brazil reported that top executives at two construction companies are seeking plea bargains with prosecutors that could implicate Rousseff’s party in wrongdoing.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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