JOHANNESBURG, April 2 (Reuters) – South African stocks
cruised higher on Monday as global investor sentiment was lifted
by an upbeat reading of business activity in U.S. manufacturing,
but blue-chip heavyweight MTN fell again on concerns
about a massive lawsuit.
MTN slid 4.5 percent to 128.80 rand, extending Friday’s
losses after Turkish rival Turkcell filed a $4.2
billion suit against the mobile phone operator, alleging it
bribed officials and lobbied support for Tehran’s nuclear
programme to win an Iranian licence.
Investors were happy to pile into other heavy-weight local
stocks, with the JSE Top-40 index gaining 1.39 percent
to 30,132.52, a positive start to the second quarter after
ending the first three months of the year 4 percent higher.
The broader All-share index added 1.25 percent to
finish at 33,974.63.
Market watchers remain cautiously optimistic.
“Our market has been pulled back a lot by the resources –
they have pulled back our market performance. But when we
eventually start seeing more positive data, especially out of
China, I think our market will start catching up to others,”
said Byron Lotter, portfolio manager at Vestact.
Gainers on Monday included Massmart, the retailer
majority-owned by Wal-Mart, which zoomed 4.4 percent
higher to 160.68 rand.
South African shares caught the global wave as the Institute
for Supply Management said its index of U.S. factory activity
rose to 53.4 from 52.4 in February, topping economists’
expectations of 53.0. This lifted shares worldwide.
A higher spot gold price boosted bullion producers
such as Gold Fields, the world’s fourth largest
producer of the precious metal, which climbed almost 2.50
percent.
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