Johannesburg - South African stocks ended higher
for the first time this week, with miners adding the most points to the
blue-chip index on rallying commodity prices.
Hopes that the US central bank, which concludes a two-day meeting
on Wednesday, could further boost that country’s economy, along with a meeting
between German, French and Greek leaders added to the bullish tone.
“There’s a possibility of QE 3 (a further round of quantitative
easing), that probably has had positive effect on the market,” said Byron
Lotter, a portfolio manager at Vestact Asset Management.
“There’s also a meeting tonight between the France, German and
Greece prime ministers, there’s some hope that maybe Sarkozy and Merkel can talk
some sense to George Papandreou.”
Papandreou called a popular vote on Greece’s latest bailout, a move
that sent global equities tumbling on Tuesday.
The JSE Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] blue-chip index was 1.63% higher at 28 835.32
and the broader All Share [JSE:J203] index gained 1.49% to 32 196.56.
Miners grabbed the top spots on the blue chip index as metal prices
cruised higher. Harmony surged 7% to R109.95, booking its biggest
daily percentage gain since early August to the level last seen on March 27,
2009.
Goldman Sachs raised the gold miner’s price target to R100 from
R90.
Impala Platinum picked up 4.85% to R183.50 and Assore
added 4.39% to R213.99.
In earnings news, Nedbank was up 1.44% to R140.50 after
the lender said it boosted earnings from fees and commission in a lean nine
months.
African Bank was 3.21% higher at R35.09 after the mass
market lender said full-year profit likely rose as much as 25%.
On the downside, retailers retreated after getting a boost the
previous session from upbeat local jobs growth data. Woolworths declined 0.77% to R39.69 and rival Massmart inched down 0.37% to R159.10.
Volumes fell to the lowest level in more than a week to 202.8
million, according to the latest Thomson Reuters data, compared with 294 million
the previous session.
A total of 170 shares advanced and 99 declined while 82 were
unchanged.