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Johannesburg - JSE stocks rose for the second straight session on Tuesday, adding 0.76% as resurgent iron ore prices lifted long-suffering producers such as Assore and Kumba Iron Ore.
Chinese iron ore futures hit their highest in more than three weeks on Tuesday, adding to sharp gains from the previous session after being hammered by most of the year.
That gave Assore and Kumba - the two worst performers on the benchmark Top-40 index so far this year - a significant lift.
"All the downward pressure over the last couple of months has been because of the iron ore price dropping. Then you see a little jump and all of a sudden everyone likes iron ore again," said Kyle Dutton, a broker at Mercato Financial Services.
"I don't know how sustainable that story is. I think we could see some further pressure in the iron ore industry."
Assore rose 5.6% to R250.09. The stock is the worst performing on the Top-40 this year, down more than 40%.
Kumba gained 5.1% to R289. Shares of the company are down 40% this year.
Other hard-hit commodity producers followed suit. Impala Platinum, the third-worst performer on the index so far in 2014, added 0.7% to R87.09.
The Top-40 index added 0.76% to 42 501, while the broader All-Share index gained 0.67% to 47 687.
Trade was relatively active, with 190 million shares changing hands, compared to last year's daily average of 176 million.
