SHARES in synthetic fuels firm Sasol maintained a strong rally on Thursday amid rising oil prices and favourable market reaction to solid interim results. The company said on Tuesday that its headline earnings per share in the six months to December 25, 1999, had risen by 34% to 251 cents. The company, which saw its share price climb to R55,00 in early December amid a rally in resource shares, is also seen rebounding from a recent fall in commodity stocks, which have fallen out of favour with investors switching to red-hot IT stocks.