Brazil's main stock index rose on Friday, led higher by bellwether Petrobras. The Bovespa index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange ended 1.19 percent higher at 64,320.56 after seesawing below the break-even mark for much of the session. The index mirrored the shares of state-owned oil giant Petrobras, which zigzagged in volatile trading.
After surging as much as 13 percent early in the session, Petrobras reversed course and fell into negative territory, only to recover late in the session and finish 1.81 percent higher at 81.65 reais. The gains added to a 14.16 percent jump on Thursday, when Petrobras shares chalked up their biggest one-day rally in more than eight years.
The surge was triggered by Petrobras's announcement on Thursday that it had discovered a massive light oil reserve of up to 8 billion barrels, equivalent to about half of Brazil's proven reserves. It also said the outlook for more oil finds in the region was promising.
The Petrobras gains helped the Bovespa index shake off a slump on Wall Street, where stocks tumbled sharply for the second straight day after another US bank warned of large credit losses. Interest-rate futures on the BM&F commodities and futures exchange in Sao Paulo mostly fell, bouncing back slightly after rising sharply on Thursday.
Other blue chips posting healthy gains at the Bovespa included mining giant CVRD, the second-heaviest weighted stock in the index. CVRD shares rose 0.97 percent to 53.30 reais after falling slightly on Thursday.
TAM Linhas Aereas, Brazil's leading airline, slipped 0.23 percent to 47.39 reais after it posted a 77 percent drop in third-quarter net profit because of higher fuel prices and a decline in domestic air travel.
Brazil's currency, the real, weakened for most of the session in tandem with US markets but regained some ground late in the day on a flurry of dollar inflows.
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