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Americas take high road
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April 14, 1999: 5:00 p.m. ET
Most markets in Latin America and Canada enjoy gains; Brazil out front
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Most stock exchanges in Latin America and Canada enjoyed an upward turn Wednesday.
In Brazil, the Bovespa index was trading higher by 136 points, or 1.21 percent, at 11,353.
Among the factors boosting stocks was the purchase by Britain's BG Plc and Royal Dutch Shell of Brazil's biggest natural gas company Comgas for a surprisingly high $992 million Wednesday, a strong sign investor confidence is returning to the crisis-struck country.
The British group, which beat out three other international bids, will pay more than double the minimum offering price for Comgas, well above the 20 percent premium expected by many financial analysts and the 50 percent forecast by the government.
Before trade began, one trader said, "The market is going to open with a good increase because of the auction and mainly because of the premium, which everyone put at 50, 60 percent, and it was 119 percent. This improves the mood a lot."
Despite Brazil's deepening recession, the auction of a 53 percent stake in the company sparked a heated battle among international energy titans for the promising gas market in the nation's biggest industrial and urban center.
In currency news, the Brazilian real weakened by 0.6 percent to finish trade at 1.675 against the U.S. dollar.
In Mexico, shares shadowed the Dow's every move, changing direction when Wall Street did.
The IPC index of leading shares ended the day nearly unchanged, however, up a mere 1.04 points, or 0.02 percent, at 5,297.35.
In Venezuela, stocks on the IBC index finished trade up 34.18 points, or 0.82 percent, at 4,202.14, despite a continuing political battle between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Congress over the scope and passage of special powers law to address the country's economic crisis.
On Tuesday, Chavez insisted the opposition-dominated Congress be dissolved during the year by a popular assembly that would emerge from an April 25 referendum, and he shrugged off a Supreme Court ruling that limited the assembly's powers.
On other bolsas in Latin America, Peru's General Index closed up 0.47 percent at 1,504.33 as local investors concentrated on buying mining shares while largely staying away from many blue chips, traders said. In Argentina, stocks on the Merval Index closed up 0.55 percent at 444.5, while those in Chile had moved up 0.87 percent to trade at 4,431.29 by late afternoon. And in Colombia, equities rose 0.31 percent to end at 1000.47.
Toronto stocks climb 0.5 pct.
Toronto's equity market closed in positive territory Wednesday, helped by strength in base metals and forest products shares.
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Composite index closed up 35.60 points, or 0.51 percent, at 6,948.90 on brisk volume.
Gains were broad-based with only four subsectors closing softer. Base metals and minerals posted the biggest advance, rising 5.14 percent, and paper and forest products accumulated 4.60 percent. A decline of 2.17 percent in the gold and precious metals sector tempered the Composite's rise.
Irwin Michael, portfolio manager at ABC Funds, said the upward thrust in cyclical areas like mining and forestry was "heartening."
"We are starting to see some good demand for the cyclicals. … This is good for the Canadian dollar. If indeed a lot of our cyclicals and resource companies start to move up, it's quite positive," Michael said. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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