SAO PAULO: Brazilian stocks tracked global markets higher on Friday after better-than-expected US labor data boosted investor expectations of a stronger recovery in the world's largest economy.
Mexico's IPC index posted its biggest daily gain in a week, while Chile's bourse was little changed.
Data on Friday showed US employers hired more workers than expected in November, with the jobless rate falling to a five-year low of 7.0 percent.
While the report helped boost expectations for a windingdown of the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program it also helped reassure investors that the US economy would be able to continue growing with less stimulus, analysts said.
"If the number came in below expectations, it would create worries over the speed of the US economic recovery," said Silvio Campos Neto, an analyst with Tendencias in Sao Paulo.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index rose for the second day in a row, adding 0.55 percent to 51,064.99.
Shares of BM&FBovespa SA, Brazil's only listed financial exchange, rose 3.75 percent, contributing most to the index's gains. The stock had fallen 4.6 percent in the previous session after the company said it lost an appeal against a fine imposed by Brazilian authorities over tax credits resulting from the merger that created the exchange.
Shares of state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA , known as Petrobras, fell 0.74 percent. The shutdown of Petrobras' REPAR refinery in Brazil's south after a Nov. 28 explosion and fire will cut Brazilian fuel output by more than 10 percent for about a month, a union representing workers at the plant told Reuters on Thursday.
Mexico's IPC index erased the previous session's losses, rising 0.79 percent to 42,240.78.
Shares of mining firm Grupo Mexico advanced 1.5 percent, contributing most to the index's gains, while cement manufacturer Cemex added 1.1 percent.
Shares of telecommunications firm America Movil fell 0.3 percent, while broadcaster Televisa rose 0.5 percent. The two companies, which are seen likely to be most affected by Mexico's telecoms reform, said on Thursday the regulator has told them it was determining whether they are dominant players in the sector.
Chile's IPSA index remained nearly unchanged from Thursday's close, hovering near 3,729 points, as a 0.4 percent rise in conglomerate Copec helped offset a 0.3 percent fall in retailer Falabella.
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