Investing.com – Brazil equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Public Utilities and Electric Power sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa rose 0.09%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Bovespa were Gerdau SA (SA:GGBR4), which rose 4.85% or 0.34 points to trade at 7.35 at the close. Smiles ON (SA:SMLE3) added 4.61% or 1.75 points to end at 39.75 and Bradespar SA (SA:BRAP4) was up 4.17% or 0.31 points to 7.74 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Lojas Americanas SA (SA:LAME4), which lost 4.84% or 0.72 points to trade at 14.16 in late trade. Embraer SA (SA:EMBR3) declined 3.87% or 0.77 points to end at 19.15 and Braskem SA (SA:BRKM5) shed 3.47% or 0.83 points to 23.12.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 167 to 147 and 21 ended unchanged on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was down 0.25% to 43.09.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was up 1.47% or 18.65 to $1290.95 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.77% or 0.34 to hit $44.66 a barrel, while the July US coffee C contract rose 2.53% or 3.07 to trade at $124.47 .
USD/BRL was down 0.92% to 3.5035, while EUR/BRL fell 0.96% to 3.9947.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.12% at 93.84.