MONDAY, 6.00PM:
GOLD shares dominated the day’s events on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday, climbing with unusual energy as the gold price continued to rise towards the $300 an ounce level. Merger speculation helped financials, while industrials followed hopes that the new Reserve Bank repo rate will start at 15%, down from the current 16% prime rate.
At the close, the all gold index had risen 29,7 points, or 3,8%, to 811,8; the industrial index 101,1 points to 8347,5; and the financial index 61,6 points to 13410,4 — its 20th record high this year. The all share index was up 71 points at 7166,7.
A total 107,317m shares worth R995,36m changed hands.
Bonds, meanwhile, ended the day at their best level since May 1994. At 4.10pm the benchmark R150 government long bond was quoted at a 13,155% yield — 5,5 basis points stronger than its previous close. On Friday the R150 bottomed at 13,165%, but closed at 13,21%. The longer-dated R153 was last seen 5,5 basis points stronger at a 13,355% yield.
The rand was last quoted at R4,9305-35 to the dollar from a Friday close of R4,9360-90, and at R8,1521 to the pound from Friday’s R8,1289.
The gold price ended slightly lower at $298,60-10 an ounce from Friday’s New York close of $298,80-30.