Latin American markets post gains

New York: Latin American financial markets gained on Friday as some bargain hunting and higher oil prices offset news that the US jobless rate shot up to its highest level in more than 14 years in a sign of a steep economic slide.

Brazil's equity market was further boosted by shares of the oil firm Petrobras, which rose 1.5 per cent after the head of the National Petro-leum Agency said the country's subsalt oil reserves already under concession could reach as much as 80 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

The MSCI stock index for Latin America gained 1.08 per cent, after slumping more than 12 per cent in the past two sessions, as investors took advantage of the calmer global scenario to snap up shares that had fallen sharply.

Investor sentiment remained cautious, however, with analysts saying the potential for a market recovery is limited.

"As we approach year-end, we have limited confidence that any potential rallies over the coming weeks will have any lasting power," Nick Chamie, head of emerging markets research at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note.

Most Latin American bourses posted gains. The Brazilian Bovespa index rose 0.83 per cent, while Mexico's IPC index advanced 1.09 per cent and Chile's blue-chip IPSA index closed 1.9 per cent higher.

But Argentina's MerVal lost 3.45 per cent because investors were catching up with global stock losses incurred on Thursday, when domestic markets were closed due to a holiday.

Most Latin American currencies also recovered from recent losses, with the Brazilian real strengthening 1.9 per cent to 2.1613 per dollar and the Mexican peso gaining 2.43 per cent to 12.76 per greenback.