S. African stocks close higher on Friday as industrials gain
Xinhua, January 13, 2017 Adjust font size:
Industrial shares were the main driving force on the Johannesburg Sock Exchange (JSE), which closed higher on Friday.
Industrials and general retailers along with financial shares continued to firm, but gold shares were under pressure due to the gold price weakening on a marginally stronger U.S. dollar.
Gold dipped from its almost two month high of 1,191.39 U.S. dollars an ounce to 1,119.6 dollars an ounce. Platinum was marginally weaker at 974.97 dollars an ounce.
The JSE all share closed 0.67 percent up at 52,794.81 points and the blue-chip top 40 added 0.76 percent.
Industrials were up 1.09 percent, resources were up 0.31 percent, financials were up 0.89 percent and platinums were up 1.18 percent. But the gold index shed 1.1 percent as a result of the bullion price dropping.
Anglogold was down 1.14 percent at R161.99, Sibanye was down 2.58 percent at R26.79 and Harmony was down 3.16 percent at R32.15.
Woolworths firmed 3.76 percent to R68.48.
Naspers added 1.17 percent to R2,170.81 after falling sharply on Thursday. Endit