JSE reaches six-week high supported by mining stocks

JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) reached a six-week high on Monday, powered mainly by mining shares.

The all-share had gained 0.26 percent to 60,240.96 points by the close of the session, while blue-chip top 40 gained 0.25 percent to 53,4331.53 points.

Mining shares benefited from a continuing rise in metal prices, thanks to a weaker dollar and underlying demand for commodities.

Anglo American rallied through R300 a share for the first time since 2012, having now gained about 18 percent since the start of 2018.

Anglo American was up 1.48 percent to R302.49, with Sasol up 2.54 percent to R469.36 and Impala Platinum gaining 3.13 percent to R34.55.

Bucking the trend, Woolworths was a weak spot among the blue-chip stocks, following a trading update in which is said it expected a drop of up to 17.5 percent in interim headline earnings per share. The share price fell 5.5 percent to R59.85, dragging other retailers down with it. Enditem