JBS shares leap after US listing plan advances

Shares in Brazilian meatpacker JBS JBSS3.SA jump more than 6% on Wednesday after the company called a shareholders' meeting for May 23 to vote on its plan to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

The meeting comes after JBS got the green light from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list there, the meatpacker said in a filing on Tuesday evening

Shares in JBS jump 6.5% in afternoon trading to 47.5 reais ($8.32) each, among the top gainers on Brazil's equities benchmark index Bovespa .BVSP, which is up around 1.6%

Earlier in the day, JBS' shares hit historic high of 47.97 reais each

JBS' dual-listing plan still lacks approval from shareholders, Brazil's Securities Commission and the NYSE; JBS expects to start trading shares in U.S. by June

The move primes JBS to be able to trade on par with U.S. peers like Tyson Foods, Citi analysts say in a note

($1 = 5.7090 reais)