Brazil stocks close flat

The Brazil's Sao Paulo Stock Exchange's benchmark Bovespa index ended flat on Friday at 20,333 points, up 2.5 percent for the week, as investors worried that a government defeat in a Senate vote on the nation's minimum wage could foretell further problems in passing economic reforms.
The session was marked by volatility, with the index fluttering from negative to positive territory ahead of stock options expiration on Monday.
At the Sao Paulo stock exchange, shares of steelmaker Gerdau were among the top gainers of the session, rising 4.29 percent to 36.50 reais. Analysts said investors were pleased with the company's dividends announced overnight and now expect strong second-quarter results.
Another telecoms company to stand out was Tele Norte Leste Participacoes (Telemar), which rose 0.28 percent to 35.80 reais. The stock was the session's most heavily traded ahead of options expiration on Monday.
Shares of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) lost 2.35 percent to 35.35 reais. The steelmaker said on Friday it was purchasing a 49 percent stake it didn't own in its joint venture with Germany's ThyssenKrupp in Brazil.
CSN will pay $32 million for the participation in the flat-steel company.
Brazil's currency eased on Friday. The real closed 0.45 percent weaker at 3.142 per US dollar.
The decline followed Brazil's Senate vote on Thursday to raise the country's minimum wage to 275 reais ($88), above the 260 reais the government had proposed.
The increase, if it becomes law, would have a major impact on Brazil's finances by increasing government spending since public servants' pensions are tied to the minimum wage.
"Ahead of the vote, the market had already smelled something negative in the air, but it was able to interpret it in a positive way: that it was all a big political fanfare on the Senate's part, and that, in the end, it's still the president's prerogative to veto the decision," said Carlos Camacho, a fund manager at GAP Asset Management in Sao Paulo.
But not all analysts were as positive. Gustavo Alcantara, a fund manager at Prosper bank in Sao Paulo said: "Markets were able to digest it, but it still shows government support is fragile and it might be hard to reverse this decision".