Brazil currency, stocks sink, halting trade twice

(Updates prices and adds economist comment)

By Ana Nicolaci da Costa

BRASILIA, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's currency sank and stocks plummeted by as much as 15 percent on Monday, forcing the stock exchange to halt trade twice as a deepening financial crisis battered markets across the globe.

The latest scare came over the weekend when moves by European governments to rescue large banks and protect ordinary depositors triggered widespread concerns over the fate of the world economy.

The Bovespa index .BVSP of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange plunged near a two-year low and traded down 15 percent when trade was stopped a second time.

The index pared losses after trading was resumed and was down 12.8 percent at 38,833.56 points in mid-afternoon. The Bovespa had its worst weekly performance since July 2002 last week.

"I don't know what to say, I don't know what's happening," said Zeina Latif, an economist at ING in Sao Paulo. "This is panic."

Brazil's stock market has not suspended trading twice in the same day since January 1999, when the country let its currency float freely against the dollar.

The turmoil prompted BM&F Bovespa, which operates the stock market, to set a limit for the decline in the index to 20 percent on Monday. If the index drops that far, trading will be halted until 4:30 p.m. local time (1930 GMT).