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By Luciana Lopez

SAO PAULO, June 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks closed higher on Monday as investor interest in new shares of VisaNet helped boost the overall market and a rally in energy prices sparked buying in heavyweight commodity stocks.

VisaNet's (VNET3.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) $4.3 billion initial public offering on Thursday was the country's largest ever and the world's biggest so far this year.

VisaNet, the Brazilian affiliate of credit card network Visa, jumped as much as 14.7 percent within the first 15 minutes of trading, before ending 11.8 percent higher at 16.77 reais.

"The Bovespa is tending higher mainly because of VisaNet," said Eduardo Cortez, an analyst with Gradual Investimentos, in a phone interview. "There's always a tendency for other big companies to accompany those movements."

Market rival Redecard (RDCD3.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 4.32 percent to 31 reais. Elsewhere in the financial sector, banking stocks headed higher.

Bradesco (BBDC4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) gained 1.04 percent to 29.20 reais, Banco do Brasil (BBAS3.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) put on 0.57 percent to 21.32 reais and Itau Unibanco (ITUB4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) jumped 1.97 percent to 31.52 reais.

The benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP rose for the second session in three, climbing 1.27 percent to close at 52,137.58 points.