South African stocks moved higher at the start on Monday, with gold offering support, but trading got off to a hesitant start with the bourse’s launch of its new indexing system, dealers said.
”It’s a bit of a messy Monday, with the change in the all share index, which is hindering trade a little,” said one dealer. ”Otherwise, we’re seeing some good buying in golds.”
The all-share index added 0,9% or 101 points to 10,901.26, with gold shares providing most of the support.
The JSE Securities Exchange launched the FTSE/JSE African Index series on Monday in conjunction with international index compiler FTSE.
Gold Fields, South Africa’s second largest miner, lurched 2,9% or 401 cents higher to R142,01, and Harmony added 5,3% or 800 cents to R158. They were the two top traded stock by deals.
At 0810 GMT spot gold was at $326,35 a troy ounce, against New York’s $324,40 on Friday. Swiss-based Richemont added 3,5% or 74 cents to R22.
Battered bank stocks staged a comeback on Monday, as investors hunted for bargains. Nedcor hopped up two percent or 250 cents to R122,50.
BOE added three percent or 11 cents to 343 cents, as its shareholders went in to vote on a proposed takeover, worth around R7,5-billion, of the bank by Nedcor. – Reuters