Johannesburg - Stocks gained on Tuesday, with gold and platinum shares feeling the benefit of a weaker rand and firm commodity prices.
The benchmark JSE Top40 index advanced 1.24 percent to 45215.36 points, while the all share index gained 1.13 percent to 52309.23 points.
“You have a stronger gold price and a weaker rand, and it is a welcome relief to both the gold and the platinum sector. Lonmin for example is outperforming, it is the more marginal players who benefit in this sort of market,” Investec fund manager, Hanre Rossouw, said.
Spot gold was up 0.13 percent at $1255.38 (R15 754) an ounce by 5.18pm, having touched its highest in a month at $1261.03 on Monday, while platinum gained 0.88 percent to $955 an ounce.
Among the biggest gainers were Lonmin, which rose 5.56 percent to R14.43, Anglo American Platinum, which gained 4.68 percent to R306.18 and African Rainbow Minerals, which lifted 8.28 percent to R94.80.
Meanwhile, US stocks were up yesterday afternoon, with the Dow Jones industrial average on track to snap an eight-day losing streak as financial shares jumped on the back of strong consumer data.
The Dow was up 92.38 points, or 0.45 percent, at 20643.36 points.