By Carla Mozee

Major equity markets in Latin America moved higher Friday, lifted by a jump in commodity prices and a climb in stocks on Wall Street from session lows.

Brazil's Bovespa rose 0.6% to 38,132.35 and Mexico's IPC rose 0.2% to 19,348.81. Argentina's Merval, which is heavily weighted by oil stocks, gained 0.8% to 1,065.31. Chile's IPSA picked up 1 point to 2,494.93.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 (SPX) ran from deeper losses, aided by an improvement in financial shares.

In Sao Paulo, voting shares of TIM Participacoes (TSU) soared 30% to 29.94 reals ($12.87), its highest-ever percentage gain, after Brazil's telecommunications regulator ruled late Thursday that its controlling owners must issue a buyout offer to the TIM's minority shareholders.

The ruling applies to the Telco consortium, which includes Spain's Telefonica (TEF) and a group of Italian banks. The consortium controls Italy's Telecom Italia (TI), which holds 81.2% of TIM's voting shares. Preferred, or non-voting, shares of TIM, which are more actively traded, rose 2.8%.

Although Brazil's telecom regulator "has required the tender offer, it has not signaled any price, which should open a loophole for Telco to pay a small or even no premium," wrote Bradesco in a research report Friday. It also cut its rating on Brazil's third-largest wireless company to market perform to outperform because of a recent share-price rally.

Shares of rival wireless provider Vivo Participacoes (VIV) fell 2.4%.

Shares of oil giant Petrobras (PBR) lost grip of earlier gains to finish down 0.2%.

Morgan Stanley cut Petrobras' rating to equalweight from overweight, citing high valuation amid lower prices for crude oil and a weaker local currency. The price target on U.S.-listed shares (PBR) of Petrobras was also cut, to $25 from $46.

For its part, Citigroup said while it remains positive on the outlook for Petrobras, its shares' short-term performance "is strongly linked to oil prices and a negative strategic plan...could have a negative impact on the shares." Petrobras is scheduled to unveil its 2009-2013 strategic plan on Monday.

Crude-oil prices managed to find higher ground Friday, rallying 6.4% to $46.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude futures finished the week with a 9% increase.

Citigroup analyst Tereza Mello also on Friday said oil refiner Ultrapar Participacoes (UGP) and sugar-based ethanol producer Cosan (CZZ) were the broker's preferred energy sector stocks. Ultrapar shares rose 0.2% and Cosan climbed 2.6%.

Oil futures were part of a broader rally in commodity prices on Friday, pulling the Russell/Jefferies CRB Index (CRB) up 3.3%. March silver futures rose 5% to $11.94 an ounce, and copper futures rose 7 cents to $1.47 a pound.

Buenos Aires-listed shares of Petrobras rose 1.3% and shares of steel tube maker Tenaris (TS) rose 1.7%.

In Mexico City, shares of manufacturers, miners, and engineering and communication stocks contributed to the market's advance. Shares of steel maker Grupo Simec (SIM) led IPC advancers with a gain of 5.7%.

America Movil (AMX) rose 0.9%, but retailer Walmex (WMMVY) fell 1.8%.

Friday's regional advancers weren't enough to save the benchmarks from logging weekly losses. The Bovespa fell 3.1% and the IPC fell 4.8%. The Merval lost 2.9% and the IPSA slipped 0.2%.

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