EMERGING MARKETS-Brazilian stocks hit 9-wk high, Chile rebounds

* Portugal bond sale results ease European debt worries

* Brazilian stocks close at highest level since November

* Brazil's Bovespa up 1.72 pct; Mexico's IPC dips 0.17 pct

* Chilean stocks snap four-session losing streak (Updates to close)

By Luciana Lopez and Michael O'Boyle

SAO PAULO/MEXICO CITY, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks rose on Wednesday, led by Brazilian commodity producers, after a successful Portuguese debt sale eased concerns of a wider European debt crisis that could hurt global growth.

The MSCI Latin American stocks index .MILA00000PUS added 2.19 percent to hit a one-week high in the best one-day gain since the start of December.

Portugal sold debt to strong demand on Wednesday, easing some of the pressure on the country to look into bailout options. [ID:nLDE70B131]

"Portugal placed its debt, and this helped," said Gerardo Roman, head of trading at brokerage Actinver in Mexico City. "Risk appetite is increasing, and the people are getting out of bonds and into stocks."

Fiscal woes among the so-called PIIGS -- Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain -- rattled markets last year, with investors dumping riskier assets globally.

But the confidence seen on Wednesday may not last for long, with Spain and Italy selling debt in auctions on Thursday, said Flavio Serrano, senior Brazil economist at Espirito Santo Investment Bank in Sao Paul.

"We're in a very sensitive environment," Serrano said.

In Brazil, the benchmark Bovespa stock index .BVSP rose 1.72 percent to a nine-week high in its biggest one-day percentage gain since Dec 1. An advance in the Reuters-Jefferies commodities index .CRB helped boost producers in Sao Paulo.

Shares of state-controlled oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) moved up 2.76 percent, as oil hit a 27-month peak. Preferred shares of mining company Vale (VALE5.SA) rose 1.87 percent. Common stock in Vale (VALE3.SA) put on 2.77 percent.

Steelmakers also rose, with Gerdau (GGBR4.SA) up 3.3 percent and Usiminas (USIM5.SA) 1 percent higher.

In Chile, the IPSA index .IPSA climbed 1 percent after a four-session drop that took 4 percent off the index -- its worst such slide since June 2009.

"There were a lot of buying opportunities that investors were taking advantage of, said Monica Nunez, a trader at brokerage Vantrust Capital.

Retailers gained, with Falabella FAL.SN up 4.63 percent and Cencosud CEN.SN rising 1.96 percent.

Mexico's IPC index .MXX slipped 0.17 percent, dragged down by a 1.85 percent loss in shares of index heavyweight America Movil (AMXL.MX), even though gainers, like bottler FEMSA (FMSAUBD.MX), which rose 2.19 percent, outnumbered losers.

Mexico's peso surged to a more than two-year high on Wednesday, and Actinver's Roman said local pension funds were selling Mexican stocks and using the peso's strength to buy into stock markets in the United States and Brazil.

Stocks in those countries may have more room to gain than Mexico's stock market, which Roman said is seen as expensive. Mexican stocks have dipped about 2 percent from a record high close hit on Jan. 5. (Additional reporting by Felipe Iturrieta; Editing by Leslie Adler)