Brazil?s petroleum company Petrobras raised national prices for gas and diesel (2.4 percent for gasoline and 4.8 percent for diesel) Thursday, reacting on soaring international petroleum costs, but investors who wanted a bigger hike sent the company's shares down.
Consumers in the country of 182 million are expected to pay 1.6 percent more at the pumps on average for gas and 3.8 percent more for diesel when the increases go into effect Friday, the company said.
Investors had been hoping for increases of 10 percent or more, and sent Petrobras shares down 1.5 percent in Sao Paulo.
Petrobras produces nearly all petroleum in Brazil, but the country remains a net oil importer.
Analysts say the company has resisted steep price hikes in an effort to help the Brazil's government control inflation. Petrobras officials have said they were waiting for international oil prices to stabilize before raising domestic prices.
