SAO PAULO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks crept higher in choppy trading on Tuesday as investors as gains by state-run oil giant Petrobras helped offset a drop by mining company Vale.

The benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP was up 0.27 percent at 66,374 in early afternoon trade, after having jumped 2.71 percent the previous day on a pledge from major economies to keep stimulus measures in place awhile longer.

The index firmed after initially weakening as long-term prospects for Brazilian growth pushed against short-term profit-taking.

"Yesterday things went up quite a bit," said Julio Hegedus Neto, an economist at consulting firm Lopes Filho & Associados. Investors were looking at the short-term horizon in putting profits from those gains in their pockets, he added.

Brazil's currency, the real (BRBY: Quote, Profile, Research), weakened 0.47 percent to 1.71 per dollar. Brazil's finance minister, Guido Mantega, said at a televised event in Sao Paulo that the real has become overvalued as foreign inflows have poured dollars into Brazil. [ID:nN10303818]

Brazil welcomes foreign investments in the stock market, in direct investment and more, but "we don't want exaggerated inflows," he said. "We now have an overvaluation of the Brazilian currency.

The real has gained about 36 percent against the dollar so far this year.

On the stock market, mining company Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest iron ore producer, kept the Bovespa from gaining further. That stock, one of the most traded at the exchange, slipped 0.3 percent to 42.87 reais.

Investors also booked profits on some banks, which had gained during the previous session. Itau Unibanco (ITUB4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research), the country's largest private-sector bank, lost 0.35 percent to 37.52 reais.