After starting in the red, SA stocks ended squarely in the black on Thursday buoyed by a strong recovery in resources and receiving an extra fillip from a weaker rand for the better part of the session and a stronger start on Wall Street – although the latter later reversed its gains.

The all share index ended 1.01 percent higher, led by a 2.61 percent increase in resources, and a 1.36 percent rise in platinum stocks. Gold miners, however, were down 0.48 percent, with banks and financials down 0.12 percent and 0.51 percent respectively. Industrials were 0.88 percent lower.

Having staged a turnaround in late trade, the rand was bid at 7.93 to the US dollar from 8.04 when the JSE closed on Wednesday, while gold was quoted at US$905.55 a troy ounce from US$890.10/oz at the JSE's last close.

A local equities trader said South African stocks had initially followed the weaker global trend, with banks and financials weighing, but resources had picked up steam, nudging the overall market back into the black.

I-Net Bridge