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    By Ana Nicolaci da Costa

    BRASILIA, Oct 14 (Reuters) - President Luiz Inacio Lula da

    Silva likes to boast that Brazil will emerge virtually

    unscathed from the global financial crisis. But there are

    growing signs Latin America's largest economy is already

    feeling the pinch.

    At stake is whether Brazil's five-year run of robust

    economic expansion, its longest in decades, will come

    screechingto a halt or merely shift into lower gear.

    Rising interest rates and a falling currency are gnawing

    away at consumer confidence in a variety of sectors of the

    economy and eroding profit margins of several companies.

    "We are going to wait for the crisis to pass, see how

    things end up," Fabiana Costa, a 30-year old journalist in

    Brasilia, said about her decision not to buy a new TV set.

    Slumping demand for electronics and motorcycles has

    prompted several companies in the manufacturing hub of the

    northern Amazon city Manaus to bring forward their collective

    recess by two months from late December.

    "They're not selling enough and want to draw down their

    inventories. It's unusual to shut down ahead of normally strong

    Christmas sales," Sidney Malaquias, director with the

    Metalworkers Union in Manaus, told Reuters.

    With sales of more than 3 million units and double-digit

    growth figures, Brazil is a major market for international auto

    makers like U.S.-based General Motors <GM.N>, Italy's Fiat

    <FIA.MI> and Germany's Volkswagen AG <VOWG.DE>.

    But car sales, which grew 27 percent in the first nine

    months of the year, are also showing signs of slowing.

    "Banks scrapped the financing conditions they had ... rates

    have gone up a lot and that's hitting car sales," said Jason

    Neves, a salesmanat a Renault dealership in Brasilia.

    Monthly interest rates have jumped to 1.7 percent from 1.3

    while maturities on car loans have fallen to as little as 48

    months from 72 months. In addition, customers must make a down

    payment of 10 percent.

    "We are going to wait to buy a car until the current

    instability passes," said Max Leandro, a 28-year-old school

    teacher in Brasilia.

    Bye bye Disneyland?

    Real estate brokers are also sensing a slowdown.

    "Since (Oct. 1) I haven't closed a deal," said real estate

    agent Dina Ataides at Classe A Imoveis in Brasilia. "People are

    afraid they can't pay if interest rates rise a lot."

    With Brazil's currency, the real <BRBY>, having lost as much as one-third against the U.S. dollar since August, many

    families may decide to scrap plans to see Disneyland and spend

    their summer holidays at the local beach.

    "When the dollar began to (strengthen), we felt the impact

    right away," said 42-year-old Braulio Oliveira Ribeiro,

    director at Mundial Turismo, a travel agency in Brasilia that

    focuses on trips abroad.

    Brazil's central bank has unveiled a flurry of measures in

    recent weeks that could improve credit conditions, but analysts

    say that consumer demand is certain to slow in coming months.

    On the supply side, companies that lost money in the

    currency market could see their investment capability shrink.

    Industrial conglomerate Votorantim, pulp producer Aracruz

    <ARCZ6.SA> and processed foods company Sadia <SDIA4.SA>

    announced massive trading losses in currency derivatives and

    analysts say others could follow suit.

    With economic growth at an annualized rate of 6 percent,

    Brazil had been gaining clout in the envied BRIC club of

    emerging markets that also includes Russia, India and China.

    Lula's claims about Brazil's ability to withstand the

    crisis now look overly optimistic.

    "The real economy will suffer broadly," said Jose Roberto

    Mendonca de Barros, former secretary of economic policy at

    Brazil's finance ministry.

    (Additional reporting by Renato Andrade in Sao Paulo and

    Raymond Colitt in Brasilia; Editing by Raymond Colitt and Tom

    Hals)

     ((ana.nicolacidacosta@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: 55 61

    3426-7027; Reuters Messaging:

    ana.nicolacidacosta.reuters.com@reuters.net))

    Keywords: FINANCIAL/BRAZIL ECONOMY

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