Investing.com – Brazil equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Financials, Electric Power and Public Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa added 1.85%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Bovespa were Cosan SA Industria e Comercio (SA:CSAN3), which rose 5.74% or 2.05 points to trade at 37.76 at the close. Banco Santander Brasil SA (SA:SANB11) added 5.27% or 1.46 points to end at 29.19 and BB Seguridade Participacoes SA (SA:BBSE3) was up 4.01% or 1.08 points to 27.99 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Localiza Rent a Car SA (SA:RENT3), which lost 2.24% or 0.76 points to trade at 33.10 in late trade. Gerdau SA (SA:GGBR4) declined 1.91% or 0.21 points to end at 10.77 and BR Malls Participacoes SA (SA:BRML3) shed 0.84% or 0.10 points to 11.75.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 232 to 123 and 40 ended unchanged on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was down 0.68% to 35.16.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.40% or 4.55 to $1143.35 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.09% or 0.05 to hit $53.95 a barrel, while the March US coffee C contract fell 1.06% or 1.43 to trade at $133.25 .
USD/BRL was up 0.29% to 3.2807, while EUR/BRL fell 0.17% to 3.4153.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.19% at 103.20.