Investing.com – Brazil equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Public Utilities, Electric Power and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa gained 0.64%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Bovespa were BRF SA (SA:BRFS3), which rose 9.20% or 1.97 points to trade at 23.39 at the close. Estacio Participacoes SA (SA:ESTC3) added 7.36% or 1.85 points to end at 27.00 and Magazine Luiza SA (SA:MGLU3) was up 6.83% or 7.41 points to 115.83 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Petroleo Brasileiro SA (SA:PETR3), which lost 14.92% or 3.31 points to trade at 18.88 in late trade. Petroleo Brasileiro SA PN (SA:PETR4) declined 14.70% or 2.79 points to end at 16.19 and Itausa - Investimentos Itau SA (SA:ITSA4) shed 7.93% or 0.89 points to 10.34.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 248 to 168 and 25 ended unchanged on the BM&FBovespa Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was up 0.98% to 29.96.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.53% or 6.90 to $1293.20 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 1.95% or 1.31 to hit $65.73 a barrel, while the July US coffee C contract fell 0.77% or 0.95 to trade at $122.72 .
USD/BRL was up 0.98% to 3.7598, while EUR/BRL rose 0.65% to 4.3817.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.24% at 94.18.