By Nathan Gill
     Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) — Cencosud SA, Chile’s biggest
retailer, extended its steepest gain in four years in Santiago
trading after Banco Santander SA said a plan to raise capital may
reduce the company’s financial “uncertainty.”
     The shares rose 9.8 percent to 1,100 pesos after jumping 15
percent yesterday in the biggest gain since trading began in May
2004.
     Santiago-based Cencosud plans to sell 150 million new
shares, it said in an Oct. 10 statement. The controlling
shareholder will buy $120 million of the planned $200 million
share sale, Chairman Horst Paulmann said in an interview with El
Mercurio published Oct. 12.
     The retailer was reiterated at “buy” at Santander.
     The “news is obviously a strong show of support for the
company,” Raul Barros, analyst at FIT Research Corredores de
Bolsa SA, said by phone from Santiago today.
     Chile’s peso, which last week tumbled to a four-year low
against the U.S. dollar, rose for a second day, signaling lower
costs for importers.