The Brazilian real slipped sharply on Wednesday after the country's central bank stepped into currency markets to beat back the real's surge beyond the 1.70-per-dollar mark. 

The real, which has appreciated more than eight percent since the beginning of the year, weakened 1.2 percent to bid at 1.7190 per dollar. Other Latin American currencies traded mixed.

 

"With foreign capital entering the local market, it will continue to get more difficult to hold the real at this level," said Maurico Nakahodo, an economist at Brazil's CM Capital Markets.