Brazil real eases, stocks fall to near 8-week low

SAO PAULO, June 20 (Reuters) - Brazil's currency weakened on Friday and stocks fell to their lowest level in almost eight weeks as investors sold off blue-chip stocks weighed down by a slump in U.S. equity markets.

The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange's benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP fell 1.04 percent to 65,896 points, heading for its weakest level since April 29. Shares of Brazil's two biggest airlines, TAM Linhas Aereas and Gol Linhas Aereas, tumbled after Fitch Ratings downgraded Gol and said it may cut TAM.

Brazil's currency, the real BRBY, weakened 0.25 percent to 1.608 per U.S. dollar.

Expectations of profit warnings from U.S. financial firms and lower dividends pushed Wall Street stocks lower, with the Dow Jones industrials dropping 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index tumbling nearly 2 percent. The declines increased investors' risk aversion and pushed Brazil markets lower.

"There is only difficult news today," said Americo Reisner, a trader at the Fator brokerage in Sao Paulo.

Interest rate futures <0#DIJ:> on the the BM&F commodities and futures exchange in Sao Paulo edged higher after partial wholesale inflation data showed prices quickened in the second preview of the IGP-M index.

In the stock market, mining company Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) -- Bovespa's second most heavily weighted stock -- fell 2.2 percent to 47.64 reais as investors sold off Brazil's most liquid stocks.

Gol Linhas Aereas (GOLL4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research), Brazil's second largest airline, sank 4.3 percent to 20.85 reais, while bigger rival TAM Linhas Aereas (TAMM4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) tumbled 2.7 percent to 32.31 reais. Fitch Ratings cut Gol's bond ratings to BB from BB+ and put TAM's BB ratings on negative watch, meaning it may soon downgrade it.

The credit ratings agency said late on Thursday uncertainty about a recovery in Brazil's airline industry has grown as the "unprecedented rise" in oil prices cuts the companies margins. (Reporting by Elzio Barreto and Aluisio Alves; editing by Gary Crosse)