By Jeffrey T. Lewis
SAO PAULO--Brazil's Bovespa stocks index closed lower Friday,
weighed down by lackluster local industrial data and declines
registered by local oil heavyweight Petrobras (PBR, PETR3.BR,
PETR4.BR). The benchmark Ibovespa stocks index declined 0.5% to
54013 points.
State-controlled oil company Petrobras weighed on the index as
the company's shares gave back strong gains seen in recent
sessions. Shares fell 2.8% to 19.86 Brazilian reais ($8.79).
Petrobras, the most-heavily-weighted shares in the Ibovespa, gained
7.4% this week, even after Friday's decline.
Traders said the decline was also partly due to
weaker-than-expected industrial output figures locally. Brazil's
IBGE statistics institute reported local industrial production came
in below forecasts. Industrial output rose 0.7% during the month,
less than projections of around 1.2%.
Meanwhile, companies in the mining and steel sectors were among
gainers amid a boost from firm third-quarter earnings results by
steelmaker Gerdau and news of a $500 million shipping deal between
iron miner Vale (VALE, VALE3.BR, VALE5.BR, VALE5.FR) and Shandong
shipping in China. Shares of Vale rose 1.9% to BRL33.45 and Gerdau
(GGB, GGBR3.BR, GGBR4.BR) shares gained 3.7% to BRL18.32.
Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at Jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com