SOUTH African shares opened firmer on Thursday, helped by higher bullion price and a firmer rand, dealers said. The benchmark all-share index was up 0.25% or 22.7 points to 8,948.4, helped by buying across the board, they said. “The gold price is a little bit better. Apparently a hedge is being unwound in the Australian market which causes it to spike a bit,” a trader said. The gold index soared 3.3% or 38.1 points to 1,196.3, after the bullion price rallied to two-month highs of $270 an ounce in late New York trade on short covering and trade bank buying. It was last bid at $268.50 an ounce. Gold miners Anglo Gold rose 4.54% or R13.20 to R304, and GoldFields gained 2.32% to R35.30. Diamond giant De Beers extended Wednesday’s gains, adding 140 cents or 0.41% to R342.60 after a key U.S.-based shareholder said it would support a $18.7bn take-over bid by a consortium led by Anglo American. Anglo American was up 40 cents to R123.80. Local networking giant Dimension Data recovered one percent from Wednesday’s losses, bucking the trend against the tech-rich Nasdaq which fell 1.92% overnight.