Colombia Stocks : Helm Bank, Cementos Argos, Ecopetrol Are Active

The following companies are having unusual price changes in Bogotá trading. 

Stock symbols are in parentheses, and prices are as of 11:46 a.m. local time.

The IGBC Index (IGBC) was little changed at 13,657.86. 

The Colcap Index fell 0.1 percent to 1,659.63.

Helm Bank SA (PFBHELMB CB), whose stock is the best performer on the IGBC this year, rallied 5 percent to 506 pesos, a four-week high, after Diario Financiero newspaper reported that Chile’s Corpbanca is in talks to buy the Colombian lender.

Cementos Argos SA (CEMARGOS) , Colombia’s biggest cement maker, fell 0.7 percent to 7,040 pesos. 

The total number of building permits in Colombia shrank 38 percent from a year earlier in may, according to a report published by Colombia’s national statistics agency.

Oil advanced, exceeding $90 a barrel for the first time since may, as U.S. housing starts rose more than forecast and gasoline inventories fell.

Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL) , Colombia’s state-controlled oil company, rose 0.2 percent to 5,000 pesos. 

The company signed a deal with PanAtlantic Energy Group that will give Ecopetrol a 30 percent stake in three exploration blocks in Brazil’s Santos Basin, according to an e-mailed statement.