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SAO PAULO, July 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks closed higher on Thursday as a wave of economic indicators and earnings reports whetted investors' appetite for risk.

The benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP rose 1.21 percent to 51,918.20, reversing morning profit-taking that had pushed stocks lower. On Wednesday, the index soared almost 5 percent, the biggest jump in nearly two months.

Brazil's currency, the real (BRBY: Quote, Profile, Research), strengthened 0.26 percent to 1.931 reais per dollar.

The slew of numbers on Thursday included the addition of payroll jobs to Brazil's economy for the fifth straight month in June and higher-than-expected growth numbers from China, a leading consumer of Brazilian commodity exports.

"The pieces of good news built on each other," said Raffi Dokuzian, superintendent at Banif brokerage. After the morning profit-taking, he said, "the market started to look forward again."

Strong earnings reports in the United States this week from such companies as JPMorgan Chase, Google, IBM and Goldman Sachs Group also gave investors hope that the worst of the global economic crisis could be over.

Brazilian investors often look to U.S. markets to gauge risk-taking and international sentiment.

"The numbers I've seen so far have surprised the market, coming in better than expected," said Januario Hostin Jr., an analyst with Leme Investimentos.