Around the World's Markets: New York

STOCKS ROSE in early afternoon trading as investors speculated that a new budget plan from Brazil may keep Latin America's largest economy from dragging the US into recession.

Computer and retail shares led the gains. The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average 64.1 points at 8430.2, while the Nasdaq index rose 14.97, or 0.9 percent, to 1732.60. About one-fifth of all US trade is done with Latin American countries, and a decline in their currencies would make US exports less competitive.