Brazil's economic activity beats forecasts in November

BRASILIA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's IBC-Br economic activity index gained 0.7% in November from the previous ?month, the central bank said on Friday, beating ?the 0.3% expansion expected by economists ?in a Reuters poll.

* The ?index ?is a proxy for gross domestic product (GDP) based ?on central bank ?estimates for agriculture, industry and services, as well as production-related ?taxes.

* All sectors ?except ?agriculture, which fell 0.3%, had a positive performance in the month.

* On a non-seasonally ?adjusted basis, activity rose 2.4% year-on-year.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

* Brazil's central bank has maintained a hawkish stance against a backdrop of resilient economic activity and ?labor market ?pressures.

* It held the benchmark Selic interest rate at 15% last month ?for a fourth consecutive meeting, stressing the need to keep it steady to bring inflation back to the 3% target.

* Economists expect monetary easing to ?begin in the first quarter, with most seeing a first cut in March.

(Reporting by ?Marcela Ayres; Editing by Gabriel Araujo)