Brazil stocks firm led by Petrobras, real gains

(Updates to close)

*Stock market edges higher and closes at record

*Petrobras leads Bovespa higher on 1st-quarter profit

*Real gains on dollar inflows from exporters and investors

SAO PAULO, May 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's stocks edged higher on Tuesday boosted by market bellwether Petrobras, while the national currency gained for a third session on rising dollar inflows from exporters and investors.

The Bovespa index .BVSP of the Sao Paulo stock exchange firmed 0.12 percent and closed at a record 70,503.25 points, after briefly touching an all-time intraday high of 71,084.38.

State oil giant Petrobras, the top-weighted stock in the index, surged 2.6 percent after it reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The stock has gained in eight of the past nine sessions, jumping nearly 15 percent in the period.

"Despite the recent gains, the company's shares were behind in relation to the rest of the market and investors saw in the good first-quarter results an opportunity," said Miguel Daoud, director at the Global Financial Advisor consultancy.

In the foreign exchange market, the Brazilian real BRBY edged up 0.12 percent to 1.663 per U.S. dollar. The real gained for the third straight session, buoyed by expectations of a surge in capital flows into the country now that it has won an investment-grade credit rating from Standard & Poor's.