S. Africa’s Stocks Rise as FirstRand Lifts Banks, Miners Rally

(Bloomberg) --

South Africa’s main stock benchmark index extends gains for a second day, rises as much as 0.4% to the highest intraday level since Feb. 20, as banks and diversified miners rally.

FTSE/JSE Africa All Share index is up 0.2% by 9:40 a.m. in Johannesburg. Friday’s advance lifts the index’s weekly gain to 2.5%

Global stocks are ending the week in a cautious fashion as investors assess valuations following a rapid rise in equities this month and the enduring pandemic in parts of Europe and the U.S. Oil retreated amid rising tensions within OPEC+ members. Volumes may be lower than average on Friday with reduced trading hours for U.S. stocks and bonds.

• Index for bank stocks extends gains for a second day, up 1% as FirstRand Ltd. says it experienced a better-than-anticipated recovery in the past four months
  • FirstRand +2.2% to the highest intraday level in more than two weeks.
  • Standard Bank Group Ltd. +0.8%, Absa Group Ltd. +0.6%, Investec Plc +1.4%, Nedbank Group Ltd. +1.4%
• Naspers Ltd., with an index weighting of 19%, gains for a second day, up 0.3% as partly-owned Tencent Holdings Ltd. gains in Hong Kong
• Gauge for basic resource stocks rises for a sixth day, the longest winning streak since Dec. 17, as gains in diversified minerscounters weakness in gold and platinum companies
  • BHP Group Plc +0.6%, Anglo American Plc +0.5%, African Rainbow Minerals +2.2%, Exxaro Resources Ltd. +0.7%, Glencore Plc +0.7%
  • Sub-index for gold stocks drops 1% as bullion prices retreat
    • NOTE: Gold Set For Longest Weekly Losing Streak Since June on Vaccine
      • AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. +1.4%, Gold Fields Ltd. -1.3%, Harmony Gold Mining Co. -1.1%, DRDGold Ltd. -1.8%, Pan African Resources Plc -2.6%
  • Sub-index for platinum companies -1.2%
    • Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. -1.5%, Anglo American Platinum Ltd. -1.6%, Northam Platinum Ltd. -1.4%, Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. -0.4%, Royal Bafokeng platinum Ltd. -0.8%
• Foreigners remained net sellers of South African stocks for an ninth day Wednesday, disposing of 1.88 billion rand worth of shares, according to exchange operator JSE Ltd.

NEWS:

• JPMorgan Favors South African Domestics Over Gold, Tech Stocks

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