COLOMBIA: Stocks Rise As High Brent Prices Boost Ecopetrol Shares

(RTTNews) - Colcap, the benchmark stock market index in Colombia, rose 0.34%, to 1,524.32 points, boosted by the performance of Ecopetrol - a heavyweight constituent of the index.

Ecopetrol's shares increased 1.49%, with traders shrugging off today's decline in oil prices and focusing instead on the level of Brent oil prices, which are near to US$ 80 per barrel, said Ramses Pestanapalmett, an analyst at Ultraserfinco.

He added that Ecopetrol shares also attracted buyers after the recent price decrease and that trading in local markets is volatile ahead of the Colombian presidential elections.

Cemargos (1.74%) and Corficolombiana (1.51%) also ended higher, while Preferencial Bancolombia (-0.98%), Bancolombia (-0.86%) and ISA (0.84%) posted the largest losses.

The locally traded U.S. dollar fell 0.78% to 2,898.00 pesos, after the United States president Donald Trump called off a summit with Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea.