Johannesburg - South Africa’s All-share index hit a record
high in early trade on Monday, rising 0.6% as miner Assore and other
commodities companies were buoyed by hopes of action by Europe to support its
fragile economy.
The All-share, the broadest measure of South African stock
performance, briefly touched 34,877.55, surpassing its previous record of
34,808.92 set on June 20.
The benchmark Top-40 index was up 0.5% at 30,666.19 at 07:57
GMT, below its lifetime high of 31,393.10 set in 2008.
The All-share index is up nearly 9% so far this year in
local currency terms, making it the second-best performing index among the
Brics nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Only Indian stocks have performed better, rising nearly 11%.
In dollar terms, the All-share is the top performer among
the Brics, up 7.6%.
So far this year, investors have been drawn to South African
retailers and other firms seen as having strong growth prospects.
The top performer this year has been engineering and capital
equipment firm Invicta Holdings, which is up 61%.
Other strong performers include private hospital firm Life
Healthcare, up 60%, and discount retailer Mr Price.
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