South African shares close firmer broadly

Share prices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) rose on a broad front on Wednesday.

The JSE all share closed 1.72 percent higher at 51,799.21 points and the blue-chip top 40 climbed 1.99 percent.

Banks led the charge, gaining 0.64 percent, while platinums gained 2.88 percent, financials rose 1.34 percent and industrials were 2.22 percent stronger.

Sasol shed 1.37 percent to 358.71 Rand.Global luxury goods group Richemont climbed 2.64 percent to 80.72 Rand.

In the banking sector, Capitec added 0.78 percent to 609 Rand after it reported headline earnings a share rose 19 percent to 1,517c in the six months to August.

At 5 p.m., the rand was trading at 13.66 Rand to the U.S. dollars, 17.71 Rand to the British pound and 15.28 Rand to the euro.

Among global miners, Anglo American rose 2.69 percent to 164.3 Rand.

SABMiller firmed 1.58 percent to 782.17 Rand. SABMiller shareholders met in the day and approve the Anheuser-Busch InBev deal.

Steinhoff added 6.24 percent to sell at 78.74 Rand.

PPC Limited was amongst the biggest movers downwards, as shares slid 6.81 percent to 5.2 Rand. Endit