| * Brazil raises interest rates * Nigeria seeks talks with insurgents * EM consumers take a bit of a rest * US backs call for Venezuela poll recount * Amerisur trebles revenues from Colombia * Hikma pulls out of vaccines business sale Markets: down Brazil raises interest rates
Brazil's central bank sought to reassure markets on Wednesday night that it was still the nation's principal guardian of inflation by ending a period of easier monetary policy that lasted nearly two years.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/34ef68f2-a7b8-11e2-bfcd-00144feabdc0.html Nigeria seeks talks with insurgents
Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, moved closer to offering amnesty to Islamist insurgents in the country's north on Wednesday by setting up a panel to reach out to militant leaders.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d9e9e11e-a77e-11e2-bfcd-00144feabdc0.html EM consumers take a bit of a rest
Emerging market consumers have been powering global economic growth in recent years – and with it the profits and share prices of companies that have successfully ridden this wave of spending.
http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2013/04/18/em-consumers-take-a-bit-of-a-rest/#axzz2QmbhaURp US backs call for Venezuela poll recount
John Kerry, US secretary of state, on Wednesday backed the Venezuelan opposition's call for a recount of the vote after disputed presidential elections on Sunday, despite plans for the inauguration on Friday of Nicolás Maduro.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ec83e0fc-a77b-11e2-bfcd-00144feabdc0.html Amerisur trebles revenues from Colombia
Amerisur Resources held out the prospect of further growth in its reserves base as it confirmed a trebling of revenues and leap in profits from fields in Colombia.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/de7097a4-a757-11e2-bfcd-00144feabdc0.html Hikma pulls out of vaccines business sale
Shares in Hikma, the Jordan-based drug company, fell nearly 7 per cent after it resolved not to sell its profitable vaccines business at the conclusion of a strategic review.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9aa16aac-a776-11e2-bfcd-00144feabdc0.html Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index down -0.16% at 1,000 Americas
DJIA down -0.94% at 14,619
S&P 500 down -1.43% at 1,552
Bovespa down -2.05% at 52,882 Asia
Nikkei 225 down -0.31% at 13,342
Topix down -0.37% at 1,132
Hang Seng down -0.05% at 21,560
Shanghai Composite down -0.16% at 2,190
MSCI Asia ex-Japan down -0.19% at 530.58
CNX Nifty up +0.28% at 5,705 Currencies
€/$ 1.31 (1.30)
$/¥ 98.25 (98.09) Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) unchanged 0.00 at 97.69
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.10 at 86.78
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -19.20 at 1,363 | 
