Investing.com – Brazil equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Public Utilities, Financials and Electric Power sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa rose 0.32% to hit a new all time high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Bovespa were Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais (SA:USIM5), which rose 4.57% or 0.50 points to trade at 11.43 at the close. Braskem SA (SA:BRKM5) added 4.56% or 2.21 points to end at 50.71 and Viavarejo Unt (SA:VVAR11) was up 4.26% or 0.96 points to 23.48 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Metalurgica Gerdau SA (SA:GOAU4), which lost 3.67% or 0.25 points to trade at 6.57 in late trade. Telefonica Brasil SA (SA:VIVT4) declined 2.68% or 1.36 points to end at 49.35 and Gerdau SA Pref (SA:GGBR4) shed 2.61% or 0.38 points to 14.16.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 230 to 193 and 46 ended unchanged on the BM&FBovespa Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was down 1.60% to 32.55.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.47% or 6.20 to $1333.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.64% or 0.41 to hit $63.54 a barrel, while the March US coffee C contract rose 0.12% or 0.14 to trade at $121.17 .
USD/BRL was down 0.36% to 3.1950, while EUR/BRL fell 0.41% to 3.9079.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 90.40.