by Stanley Karombo
JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Share prices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) closed firmer on Monday tracking the stronger Asian markets that traded at their highest level in ten years.
The South African rand was at R13.29 to the dollar from R13.16, R15.89 to the euro from R15.7, and R17.95 to the British pound from R17.86.
The all share was up 0.73 percent to 56,050.1 points, buoyed in part by some larger industrial stocks.
The industrial index was 0.94 percent higher and the financial index was 1.35 percent stronger. The resources index was 0.53 percent higher at 35,250.16 points. The gold index was 3.08 percent lower after gold traded 0.51 percent softer at 1,307.2 dollars per ounce.
Among individual stocks on the JSE, Richemont was up 1.71 percent to R121.54, Bidvest gained 3.45 percent to R166.84 and Naspers gained 1.09 percent to R2,955.9. Netcare lost 0.69 percent to R23.08.
Among the banks, Standard Bank added 2.75 percent to R161.12, Barclay's Africa gained 2.23 percent to R138.72. FirstRand gained 3.18 percent to R54.56 and Nedbank added 2.01 percent to R204.72.
Among the insurers, Discovery gained 2.82 percent to R146, after earlier reporting a 20-percent increase in full-year diluted headline earnings per share. Sanlam climbed 1.89 percent to R68.35.
AngloGold Ashanti was off 3.97 percent to R126.23, and Anglo American Platinum lost 0.25 percent to R232.64. Enditem
