Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Brazilian lenders fell the most in almost two weeks as investors sold bank stocks to raise funds to buy shares of Banco Santander SA’s Brazilian unit.

“People are taking advantage of the huge gains banks have seen recently and before the Santander IPO,” said Felipe Casotti, who helps manage the equivalent of $245 million in assets at Maxima Asset Management in Rio de Janeiro.

Banco Santander (Brasil) SA sets the price for its initial public offering tonight. It is estimated to raise as much as 13.1 billion reais ($7.5 billion) in Brazil’s biggest IPO.

The MSCI Brazil Financials Index declined 0.2 percent, the most since Sept. 24. The benchmark Bovespa index gained 0.5 percent to 62,670.59, a 15-month high.

Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Brazil’s biggest non-government bank, lost 1.4 percent to 36.20 reais. Banco Bradesco SA, the third-largest bank, slid 1.5 percent to 36.11 reais.

Banco do Brasil SA, Latin America’s biggest bank by assets, dropped 1.3 percent to 30.45 reais.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paulo Winterstein in Sao Paulo at pwinterstein@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 6, 2009 16:29 EDT