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Cape Town - The JSE edged higher on Monday despite a firmer rand and a relatively flat trading session.
The rand firmed to R14.07 to the US dollar after having traded above R14.12/$ for the better part of Monday's session.
The strengthening rand further supported rand-sensitive stocks such as banks Capitec [JSE:CPI], which gained 1.66%, and Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] which ended the day up 1.22%, leading the blue-chip Top-40 index.
The JSE All-Share index closed the day 0.28% firmer, while the blue-chip JSE Top-40 index rose 0.14%. The Industrials index firmed by 0.31%, while the Financials index gained 0.44%.
The Resources index, however, traded under pressure to end the day 0.09% down.
Shoprite [JSE:SHP] slipped 2.39% to R202.77 a share as it announced that it was considering entering the Kenyan market. The company has engaged the struggling, but established, retailer Nakumatt Holdings to fill empty retail space.
Moving into vacated outlets is a faster method than trying to establish a fresh footprint in the Kenyan market.
Bitcoin
Less than a week after pushing its price past $6 000, cryptocurrency bitcoin broke through the $6,300 mark for the first time late Sunday, taking gains this year to well over 500%.
READ: Bitcoin hits another record high as it climbs above $5 000
Investors appear to be shrugging off some of the negative news associated with last week's "hard fork," which resulted in the creation of a new cryptocurrency called bitcoin gold.
In US markets, meanwhile, rumours surfaced that President Donald Trump has settled on US Federal Reserve Bank Governor Jerome Powell as next Fed Chairperson. If confirmed, Powell would take up the reins at the central bank in February.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Trump said he had "somebody very specific in mind" for the job and would announce his choice sometime this week.
The Fed's vice chairperson's spot is also open, but US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has said the White House doesn't plan on nominating both positions at the same time.
Precious metals
Gold found some reprieve on Monday, after the US dollar slid towards the close of the JSE. It was trading at $1275 per ounce at the close of the market, pushing the Gold Miners index 0.59% firmer.
Brent Crude had another positive day as it broke $60 per barrel overnight, and traded at $60.34/bbl at the close of local markets. Sentiment remains largely bullish in the commodity as OPEC is expected to agree to the extension of production cuts until the end of 2018.
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