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Gold shares leap on weak rand

Johannesburg - The JSE ended firmer on Thursday, lifted mainly by a rally in gold shares, due to the weaker rand.

At 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.53% to 33 142.61 points, with gold shares gaining 4.20%, while resources were flat (0.04%) and platinums counters lost 0.38%.

Financials lifted 0.73%, banking stocks garnered 0.84% and industrials were 0.67% in the black.

The rand slid to 8.55 to the US dollar, from 8.48 at the JSE's close on Wednesday, while gold was quoted at $1 566.51 a troy ounce from $1 551.05/oz at the JSE's previous close and platinum was at $1 403.20/oz, from $1 395.70/oz at the previous session.

The all-share index has shed 3.65% in May, with general resources the worst performing sector: Gold shares have lost 15.14%, platinums 12.14% and resources 7.25%.

Among individual shares, Telkom's share price fell almost 5% on Thursday after the fixed-line provider's weighting in the MSCI equity index was reduced, while Mr Price rallied more 3% after its weighing in the same index was increased.

Rob Towell, senior equities trader at Consilium Securities, said volatility was set to continue in the equity markets pending the resolution of the eurozone crises.

European markets lost ground in late trade after a positive start, as poor US economic data weighed on market sentiment.

By the JSE's close the UK's FTSE had lost 0.25% to 5 283.84 points, while the Dow Industrial Average was down 0.67%.

Asian markets finished the month bruised after concerns over the health of the Spanish banking system pushed stocks down across the region, with Australia and Japan recording their worst month in two years, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
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Rand - Dollar
18.93
-0.1%
Rand - Pound
23.90
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.44
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.1%
Platinum
906.59
+1.1%
Palladium
1,012.66
+1.1%
Gold
2,221.84
+1.2%
Silver
24.88
+1.0%
Brent-ruolie
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.9%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.9%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
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