* All-Share index 130 points away from record high
* Top-40 index adds over 1 percent
* Stocks rise across board
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 16 (Reuters) – South African stocks
gained on Monday, with the All-share index hitting a record
close as investors shrugged off a ratings outlook downgrade last
week and focused on buying back oversold shares such as MTN
.
The All-Share closed 0.84 percent higher at
33,205.01, a mere 130 points from an all-time high of 33,334.55
hit 11 months ago. The blue-chip Top-40 added over 1
percent to 29,639.19.
Its record intra-day high is 30,195.81, also hit on Feb. 14
last year.
“It does look possible that we can break up on the technical
front. Generally things are looking quite positive at the moment
despite the problems going on in Europe,” said Ferdi Heyneke, a
portfolio manager at Afrifocus Securities.
Fitch cut its outlook for Africa’s largest economy to
negative last week, saying it had seen limited progress on
several long-standing structural issues that had caused the
country to fall behind its peers.
“The market is looking past these current problems and
hoping for some kind of resolve in Europe. That’s what’s driving
things here at the moment,” Heyneke said.
Continued…
