Brazil shares higher at close of trade; Bovespa up 0.32%

Investing.com – Brazil equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials , Electric Power and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa gained 0.32%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Bovespa were Metalurgica Gerdau SA (SA: GOAU4 ), which rose 8.87% or 0.40 points to trade at 4.91 at the close. Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais (SA: USIM5 ) added 5.19% or 0.20 points to end at 4.05 and Gerdau SA (SA: GGBR4 ) was up 5.05% or 0.55 points to 11.45 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Cielo SA (SA: CIEL3 ), which lost 5.92% or 1.54 points to trade at 24.49 in late trade. Smiles ON (SA: SMLE3 ) declined 3.68% or 1.53 points to end at 40.00 and BR Malls Participacoes SA (SA: BRML3 ) shed 2.82% or 0.31 points to 10.67.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 191 to 141 and 43 ended unchanged on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was down 3.07% to 36.95.

In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was down 2.78% or 32.40 to $1131.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.18% or 0.09 to hit $50.95 a barrel, while the March US coffee C contract fell 1.25% or 1.80 to trade at $142.38 .

USD/BRL was down 0.02% to 3.3702, while EUR/BRL fell 1.18% to 3.5080.

The US Dollar Index was up 1.14% at 103.19.