Investing.com – Brazil stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Electric Power and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Sao Paulo, the Bovespa gained 0.32%.
The best performers 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. Meanwhile, 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.
The worst performers of the session were Cielo SA (SA:CIEL3), which fell 5.92% or 1.54 points to trade at 24.49 at the close. Smiles ON (SA:SMLE3) declined 3.68% or 1.53 points to end at 40.00 and BR Malls Participacoes SA (SA:BRML3) was down 2.82% or 0.31 points to 10.67.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange by 191 to 141 and 43 ended unchanged.
The CBOE Brazil Etf Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Bovespa options, was down 3.44% to 36.81.
Gold for February delivery was down 2.79% or 32.45 to $1131.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, 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.