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Johannesburg - Domestic stocks closed the year higher as an improvement in investors' hopes for the recovery of the world economy boosted stocks globally.
Mining shares, which were also lifted by higher precious metals prices, led the modest gains, helping the bourse rack up a 29 percent gain for the year.
The JSE Top-40 index of blue chips climbed 0.71 percent on the day to 24 996.97 points and the all-share index was up 0.7 percent at 27 666.45 points when local financial markets closed at 12:00.
"We are seeing gains across the board. Gold stocks, after being battered in the last couple of sessions, are leading the upside. That's probably just due to a firmer gold price because of the weaker dollar overnight," said Andrew Todd, a derivatives trader at Imara SP Reid.
"You're just getting a bit of buying momentum coming into this last trading day of the year."
The local gold index rose 2.03 percent to 2 410.32 points as gold rallied, while diversified miner Exxaro closed up 3.47 percent at R104.50.
Financial shares also rose, led by African Bank Investments Ltd (Abil), which climbed 2.23 percent to R29.80. RMB Holdings was 2.53 percent higher at R29.60.
Mobile phone giant Vodacom led blue chips with a 3.56 percent gain to R56.49, and the continent's biggest media group, Naspers, rose 2.08 percent to R300.
The biggest loser on the day was real estate investment trust firm Liberty International, which shed 1.53 percent at R59.08.
- Reuters
