Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia’s peso rose as data signaled the world’s largest economy is weathering Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, helping appetite for higher-yielding assets.

The peso gained 0.1 percent to 1,939.90 per U.S. dollar, from 1,941.25 yesterday. The currency fell 1.7 percent this year. With markets closed tomorrow in Colombia, today is the last trading day of 2011.

“The latest U.S. numbers are driving away fears of a recession,” said Omar Escorcia, an analyst at Asesores en Valores SA brokerage in Bogota. The U.S. is Colombia’s biggest trading partner, buying about 40 percent of the nation’s exports.

U.S. stocks extended gains as an index of pending U.S. home sales rose more than economists forecast, while other reports showed stronger-than-projected growth in American business activity and a drop in jobless claims over the past month to a three-year low.

The yield on the nation’s 10 percent bonds due in July 2024 fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 7.64 percent, according to the stock exchange.

--Editors: Richard Richtmyer, Brendan Walsh

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Jaramillo in Bogota at ajaramillo1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net