São Paulo stock exchange ends 0.01% lower after 11-session winning streak

São Paulo’s stock exchange ended a remarkable run on Thursday, slipping just 0.01% after 11 consecutive sessions of gains. The Ibovespa, the benchmark index for Latin America’s largest exchange by trading volume, closed at 185,188 points.

The session began with a strong advance, but investors later sold shares that had risen sharply in recent days. The move pushed the index into negative territory for the first time in more than two weeks as traders locked in profits.

Several of the market’s most heavily traded stocks fell. Petrobras preferred shares declined 1.33%, while common shares in mining company Vale lost 2.96%. Sao Martinho led the day’s declines, falling 4.91%, followed by oil producer Petrorio, down 4.58%, and footwear maker Alpargatas, down 4.01%.

Other companies moved higher. Health insurer Hapvida rose 7.28%, Companhia Siderurgica Nacional gained 7.19%, and CSN Mineracao advanced 5.31%. The Brazilian real appreciated 0.10% against the dollar, which closed at 5.1032 reais in commercial trading. Total trading reached about 35.19 billion reais, or $6.89 billion, in around 4.53 million transactions.