UPDATE 1-S.African main stock index chalks up record high, Group Five in demand

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
UPDATE 1-S.African main stock index chalks up record high, Group Five in demand
Credit: © Reuters.

(Recasts with stocks, updates prices)

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 16 (Reuters) - South Africa's main stock indexes reached record highs on Monday, tracking a rally in major overseas markets, with Group Five GRFJ.J surging more than 20 percent after the builder received an offer for its European businesses.

The benchmark JSE Top-40 index .JTOPI added 0.51 percent to 51,713 after touching an all-time high of 51,915. The broader All-share index .JALSH gained by the same margin to 58,163.

Group Five topped the gainers list on the bourse, rising as much as 43 percent before paring its advances to still a hefty 25 percent at 11.50 rand.

The company has received a 1.6 billion rand ($120.37 million) bid from Greenbay Properties GFP.MZ for its best-performing road maintenance business in eastern Europe. Arena, an analyst at Avior Capital Markets, believes the amount offered "is fair and above the current fair value reflected by management in financial statements".

In foreign exchange, the rand was stable, retreating only slightly from a three-week high touched on Friday.

At 1516 GMT, the rand ZAR=D3 traded at 13.29 per dollar, 0.19 percent weaker on the day.

Gerry van Rooyen, an economist at NKC African Economics, said he thought the impact of Friday's court ruling upholding graft charges against President Jacob Zuma had been overstated.

He said that if inflation data due on Wednesday came in below expectations, then the rand could strengthen towards 13 to the dollar.

In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 ZAR186= was up 0.5 basis points to 8.625 percent. ($1 = 13.2925 rand)

Add Chart to Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

  • Enrich the conversation
  • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
  • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
  •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
  • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
  • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Drop an image here or Supported formats: *.jpg, *.png, *.gif up to 5mb

Error: File type not supported

Drop an image here or

100
Please try another search