The Colombian IGBC stock index Tuesday rose, led by shares of state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol SA which announced it agreed to buy the assets of BP PLC in Colombia.
The IGBC benchmark index rose 0.7% to 13,428.40 points. The Colcap index, which includes the largest companies by market capitalization, rose 0.8% to 1,586.92 points.
Shares of Ecopetrol increased 3.2% to 3,245 Colombian pesos ($1.77), a record high after it said it will pay $1.9 billion with Canadian oil company Talisman Energy to buy the Colombian assets of U.K. giant BP. Ecopetrol will have a controlling 51% stake and Talisman will own 49%.
BP is unloading its Colombian operations as part of $30 billion asset-disposal program to pay for the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Colombia-traded shares of oil firm Pacific Rubiales Energy rose 1.4% to COP44,680.
The Colombian peso strengthened to COP1,831.35 from COP1,831.8 on Monday.
The yield on the benchmark Colombian peso-denominated government bond, or TES, maturing in 2020, rose to 7.445% from 7.42% on Monday. (Inti Landauro / Dow Jones)
