JSE edges up as South African rand weakens

JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) strengthened on Tuesday for the second consecutive day as the South African rand weakens.

The local unit, which rebounded 0.5 percent after the African National Congress confirmed its decision to recall President Jacob Zuma, gave up the gains and more on uncertainty when Zuma will resign.

The rand was 0.43 percent weaker at 11.98 to the dollar, down from 11.88 shortly after the announcement. The rand was treading water for most of the day, trading in a narrow band between 11.9 and 11.94 to the greenback.

Several companies released their financial results on Tuesday and this is expected to boosted sentiment in the resource sector.

The all share index was up 1.78 percent to 57,208.97 at close of session, while the blue-chip top 40 gained 1.74 percent to 50,504.03 points.

The gold index gained 4.65 percent, platinums 2.75 percent, resources 2.34 percent, industrials 1.9 percent, food and drug retailers 1.7 percent, and property 1.45 percent.

Anglo American regained 2.38 percent to R277, Kumba Iron Ore 4.26 percent to R356.3, and Assore 4.35 percent to R313.11. Exxaro surged 4.74 percent to R143.97 after announcing earlier in the day that it would pay a special dividend of R4.5 billion, or R12.55 a share.

AngloGold Ashanti was up 4.06 percent to R122.18, Gold Fields 6.38 percent to R48.99, and Sibanye-Stillwater 6.45 percent to R13.04. Harmony Gold gained 7.61 percent to R21.91 after reporting a 49 percent rise in first-half headline earnings per share, to R2.24.

Anglo American Platinum was up 3.16 percent to R279.1 and Impala Platinum 4.53 percent to R30.26.

Standard Bank gained 1.1 percent to R205.04 and Barclays Africa 0.98 percent to R189.28. Sanlam was down 0.44 percent to R89.

Shoprite was the biggest gainer among the retailers, adding 3.17 percent to R248.65.

MTN Group was up 3.17 percent to R130, EOH 7.83 percent to R62.54, and Naspers 2.86 percent to R3,111.44. Enditem