SAO PAULO: Brazilian stocks climbed on Monday as investors piled back in to troubled oil firm OGX on reports of a stake sale.
Mexico's IPC index edged higher, while Chile's bourse fell 0.32 percent.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index rose for the third day in a row, adding 0.68 percent to 54,297.73.
Shares of OGX Petroleo e Gas Participa??es SA, the oil company controlled by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, soared nearly 20 percent, driving the index into positive territory.
Brazil's Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said on Sunday that negotiations were at an advanced stage for Russia's second-largest crude producer Lukoil to take a stake in the company, in a deal that would also involve Malaysia's Petronas.
OGX shares have plunged nearly 65 percent this year on concerns over missed production targets and the potential need for more capital.
OGX said in a brief statement that the newspaper report on the rescue plan was not accurate.
"You have a lot of people who are short on the shares, so when a piece of news like that comes out, they exit their positions, which ends up boosting the shares quite a bit," said Alvaro Bandeira, a partner at Orama Investimentos in Rio de Janeiro.
Mexico's IPC index rose 0.25 percent to 42,914.20, as shares of telecommunications firm America Movil, controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, added 2.25 percent.
Chile's IPSA index fell to 4,291.96 as shares of Banco Chile dropped 1.10 percent.
<Center><b><i>Copyright Reuters, 2013</b></i><br></center>*
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