JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s currency weakened on Thursday, losing ground against a stronger dollar as investors closed positions and took profits before the Easter holiday - while stocks took heart from rising gold prices.“At the moment we’ve had quite a strong week and now people are just squaring in their books for their weekend,” said Sanlam Private Wealth Portfolio Manager Garth Curry.
Despite a weak early session, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Top-40 Index closed 0.59% higher to 52,792, while the broader All-Share Index climbed 0.53% to 59,110.Top performers included Clicks which rose 5.84% to 195.46 after it said on Wednesday half-year earnings were up 13.2% on strong health and beauty product sales.
Commodities were among the top blue-chip performers, with Goldfields up 2.48% to R549 while rival AngloGold Ashanti rose 1.85% to 183.69. The gold miners index was up 1.57% as investors turned to safe-haven assets following weak manufacturing surveys from Asia and Europe.