DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Friday 5.00pm.
THE gold index was the top performer on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Friday, after a sudden surge in the gold price, gaining 37 points and climbing to 1020.
The financial index climbed to 34 points to 9705 while the industrial index climbed 18 points to 7480. The overall index climbed past the 7000-mark to settle on 7044 for the weekend.
In Asia the Nikkei in Tokyo lost a substantial 240 points to settle on 16701. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was looking more robust, and climbed 154 points to 13333.
In London the FTSE100 climbed a marginal 3 points to 6538 by mid-afternoon. In Europe the Dax in Frankfurt climbed 32 points to 5377, while the French CAC40 put on 20 points to hit 4407.
On Wall Street, the morning was looking good, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 33 points to 10911 by 10am, helped by news that the US economy was growing at a rate of 4,5% in the first quarter. The Nasdaq climbed 37 points to 2565 as investors moved back into tech stocks. The S&P500 climbed 5 points to 1347.
Gold closed at $286,75.
The rand closed leaving a dolar costing R6,02, a pound R9,70 and a euro R6,38.
The yield on the R150 bond increased two basis points to 14,21%.
The Reserve Bank’s overnight lending or repo rate dropped to 15,665% from 15,691%.