Investing.com – Brazil equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Public Utilities and Electric Power sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa gained 0.56%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Bovespa were Metalurgica Gerdau SA (SA:GOAU4), which rose 6.44% or 0.30 points to trade at 4.96 at the close. Kroton Educacional SA (SA:KROT3) added 5.67% or 0.76 points to end at 14.16 and Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA (SA:ELET6) was up 5.00% or 0.81 points to 17.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Cia Paranaense de Energia (SA:CPLE6), which lost 2.55% or 0.64 points to trade at 24.43 in late trade. Qualicorp SA (SA:QUAL3) declined 1.79% or 0.53 points to end at 29.08 and Raia Drogasil SA (SA:RADL3) shed 1.39% or 0.99 points to 70.40.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 182 to 172 and 39 ended unchanged on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was down 3.15% to 31.67.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.32% or 3.98 to $1250.88 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.22% or 0.54 to hit $44.78 a barrel, while the September US coffee C contract fell 0.45% or 0.57 to trade at $125.15 .
USD/BRL was down 0.93% to 3.2832, while EUR/BRL fell 0.57% to 3.7358.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.45% at 95.75.