Brazil shares higher at close of trade; Bovespa up 0.70%

Investing.com – Brazil equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Electric Power , Public Utilities and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa gained 0.70% to hit a new 6-month high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Bovespa were Cia Paranaense de Energia (SA: CPLE6 ), which rose 8.65% or 2.42 points to trade at 30.39 at the close. Tim Participacoes SA (SA: TIMP3 ) added 4.08% or 0.32 points to end at 8.16 and EDP - Energias do Brasil SA (SA: ENBR3 ) was up 3.88% or 0.50 points to 13.40 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Oi SA (SA: OIBR3 ), which lost 3.39% or 0.04 points to trade at 1.14 in late trade. JBS SA (SA: JBSS3 ) declined 3.01% or 0.36 points to end at 11.59 and Metalurgica Gerdau SA (SA: GOAU4 ) shed 2.36% or 0.05 points to 2.07.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 202 to 106 and 23 ended unchanged on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was down 4.23% to 49.76.

In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was down 0.81% or 10.20 to $1244.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 1.17% or 0.48 to hit $41.62 a barrel, while the May US coffee C contract fell 1.77% or 2.37 to trade at $131.35 .

USD/BRL was down 0.25% to 3.6126, while EUR/BRL fell 0.18% to 4.0606.

The US Dollar Index was up 0.35% at 95.40.