Johannesburg - South African stocks extended their winning run to a fourth straight session on Thursday, with Capitec [JSE:CPI] leading the gainers after the lender flagged higher profits.
Capitec rallied 9.07% to R232, its biggest daily percentage gain in more than six years, boosted by news that its first-half profit likely rose as much as 22%.
The profit guidance allayed investor concerns about Capitec's exposure to unsecured loans following the collapse of rival African Bank.
"Capitec is not just an unsecured lender, it's not even just a banker for the poor," said Jean Pierre Verster, an analyst at 36One Asset Management. "The details that they give are very positive, specifically that they've attracted clients in higher-income groups as well."
Overall, investors took their cue from positive sentiment in major overseas markets after the European Central Bank cut interest rates to record low.
The JSE Top-40 index gained 0.62% to 46 674 and the broader All-share index was up 0.56% at 52 081.
Other movers included MTN [JSE:MTN], which climbed 2.7% to R257.31 after the wireless phones operator sold towers for an estimated $1.8bn.
On the downside, African Rainbow Minerals gave up 2.6% to R174 after the diversified miner missed estimates with a 9.5% increase in annual profit.
At least 187 million shares changed hands, according to preliminary bourse statistics, with advancers outpacing decliners 180 to 129.