The JSE closed firmer as mining stocks and Naspers propelled the local bourse higher.

Naspers [JSE:NPN] closed up 2.06% at R3541.54 per share as it followed the earlier trend in its Hang Seng listed associate, Tencent Holdings [HKG: 0700], which closed up 2.45%. Diversified miners BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] and Anglo American PLC [JSE:AGL] also pushed the blue chip index higher as they climbed 2.64% and 2.41% respectively.

Stadio [JSE:SDO] and ArcelorMittal [JSE:ACL] ended the day amongst the biggest gainers as they closed up 10.00% and 3.44% respectively. JSE listed miners traded positive with notable moves being Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS], AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] and Kumba Iron Ore which gained 4.13%, 3.42% and 2.46% respectively. Banking stocks also closed firmer which saw First Rand [JSE:FSR] and Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] closing 0.76% and 1.27% firmer respectively.

Despite the strength in other mining stocks Lonmin [JSE:LON] closed 5.93% weaker. Other notable moves lower were from PPC Ltd [JSE:PPC] and Telkom [JSE:TKG] which closed 4.69% and 2.18% weaker respectively. Retailers Truworths [JSE:TRU] and Woolworths [JSE:WHL] came under pressure to close the day down 0.93% and 1.26% respectively. Rand hedges Richemont [JSE:CFR] and British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] retreated to close the day down 0.55% and 0.27% respectively.

The JSE All-Share Index eventually closed the day up 0.57% whilst the Top-40 Index gained 0.69%. All the major indices followed the trend as they closed in the green. The Industrials Index firmed by 0.41% whilst the Financials Index managed to eke out gains of 0.08%. The Resources Index jumped 1.71%.

The Rand opened weaker today and slid to an intra-day low of R14.29 to the US Dollar. However the local currency rebounded into the afternoon session as the US dollar weakened. The Rand peaked at R14.15/$ and when the JSE closed it was trading at R14.18/$.

After the minor sell-off that we saw on Friday, Gold bounced marginally in today’s session to reach an intra-day high of $1273.24/Oz. This bounce was due to softer US dollar earlier on which saw the US Dollar Index reaching a low of 94.828 index points. The precious metal was trading at $1271.16/Oz just after the JSE closed.

Palladium and Platinum opened firmer today but subsequently lost ground towards the JSE close. Palladium, which peaked to an intra-day high of $1007.40/Oz shed all of its earlier gains and broke below $1000/Oz to trade at $997.97/Oz just after the JSE closed. Platinum followed a similar trend as it weakened towards the JSE close to trade at $920.09/Oz at the JSE close.

Brent Crude inched higher despite the news of the crackdown on high-ranking Saudi nationals on corruption allegations. Brent Crude peaked at $62.90 per barrel before retracing slightly to trade $62.54 per barrel just after the JSE closed.