SA's gold shares boost bourse

Johannesburg - Higher metal prices power South Africa's blue chip index up over 1% in morning trade, with gold miners leading the bourse as spot gold hits a new record high.

The Top-40 index of blue chips climbs 1.21% to 22 948.41 points, with gold firm Harmony Gold Mining leading the pack, up 3.22% to R88.13. The broader All-share index is 1.09% higher at 25 574.90 points and the local gold index rises 2.23%.

"We're in the black across the board. Resources are leading us higher. We had seen a weaker dollar overnight, and that's resulted in the commodity prices moving to the upside. Gold again continues to make new highs," says Andrew Todd, a derivatives trader at Imara SP Reid.

"The only real thorn in our market side is the strong rand at the moment, and I think that could potentially be a bit of a concern going forward. We do have rising commodity prices, but at the same time, we have a strengthening rand, so to some degree, it does sort of offset. But buyers are still happy to ignore that rand strength for the moment."

The rand currency hits a three-week high against the dollar in early trade, while gold prices rise above $1 055 an ounce.

- Reuters