EMERGING MARKETS-Brazil stocks up; Cemig rallies on report of planned units sale
(Updates with final prices) By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, March 13 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks rose on Monday, with shares of power utility Cia Energética de Minas Gerais SA among the biggest gainers after Reuters reported plans to sell a majority stake in two main units.
Preferred shares in Cemig, as the power firm is known, rose as much as 6.3 percent following the report before paring gains to close trading up 4.84 percent.
According to a person with direct knowledge of the plan, the sale of transmission company Cemig GT and power distribution firm Cemig D could help curb debt and reduce state interference. The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais owns 17 percent of the utility's capital and controls its management.
Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index rose 1.33 percent, supported by rising shares of miner Vale SA following a sharp increase in China-listed iron ore future prices.
The Brazilian real weakened slightly, while most Latin American currencies seesawed. The Mexican peso closed down by 0.08 percent against the dollar, while the Colombian peso was flat.
Traders avoided making big bets ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting this week. An interest rate increase is seen as nearly a given, but investors will scrutinize the Fed's policy statement for clues over the timing of further hikes.
Higher U.S. rates could dampen the allure of high-yielding emerging market assets.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2215 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change MSCI Emerging Markets 938.50 1.33 8.84 MSCI LatAm 2,567.38 1.05 9.69 Brazil Bovespa 65,534.30 1.33 8.81 Mexico IPC 47,101.14 0.0 3.19 Chile IPSA 4,542.40 1.51 9.42 Chile IGPA 22,803.26 1.4 9.98 Argentina MerVal 19,188.25 1.54 13.42 Colombia IGBC 9,976.91 0.51 -1.49 Venezuela IBC 38,056.49 -1.27 20.03 Currencies Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change Brazil real 3.1522 -0.28 3.08 Mexico peso 19.616 -0.08 5.75 Chile peso 666.7 -0.43 0.60 Colombia peso 2,984.9 0.00 0.56 Peru sol 3.285 -0.06 3.93 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.495 -0.15 2.45 Argentina peso (parallel) 16.02 -0.37 4.99 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
