Brazil shares higher at close of trade; Bovespa up 0.90%

Investing.com – Brazil equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials , Financials and Public Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa rose 0.90%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Bovespa were Magazine Luiza SA (SA: MGLU3 ), which rose 6.04% or 4.51 points to trade at 79.21 at the close. CEMIG - Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais Pref (SA: CMIG4 ) added 5.32% or 0.40 points to end at 7.92 and Bradespar SA (SA: BRAP4 ) was up 4.35% or 1.45 points to 34.77 in late trade.

Biggest losers included BRF SA (SA: BRFS3 ), which lost 1.99% or 0.62 points to trade at 30.50 in late trade. JBS SA (SA: JBSS3 ) declined 1.93% or 0.19 points to end at 9.66 and Tim Participacoes SA (SA: TIMP3 ) shed 1.81% or 0.26 points to 14.09.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 209 to 192 and 35 ended unchanged on the BM&FBovespa Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was up 0.94% to 30.07.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.09% or 1.20 to $1356.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.53% or 0.93 to hit $61.53 a barrel, while the March US coffee C contract fell 0.92% or 1.13 to trade at $121.72 .

USD/BRL was up 0.33% to 3.2278, while EUR/BRL rose 0.76% to 4.0361.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.47% at 88.49.