JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Share prices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) was relatively flat at the close of the session on Friday, holding its own against much weaker global markets.
The gold and platinum sectors did the heavy lifting, countering a patchy performance in other sectors. As a result, the all share was 0.19 percent down at 55,312,47 points, while the top 40 index gained 0.28 percent to 49,026.95 points. The industrial index was 0.2 percent higher, while the financial index lost 0.55 percent. The resources index was 0.15 percent softer.
On the JSE, gold stocks benefited from a higher gold price and a slightly weaker rand. AngloGold Ashanti was up 3.64 percent to R135.1 and Harmony Gold gained 6.4 percent to R24.45.
Anglo American Platinum rose 3.56 percent to R339.9, Impala Platinum gained 2.16 percent to R38.72. Sasol, which is sensitive to oil prices and the rand, dropped 2.14 percent to R390.5.
The dual-listed commodity giants however traded softer taking a cue from the European markets. BHP lost 0.85 percent to R229.11 and Anglo American was 0.62 percent softer at R215.79.
Among the banking shares, FirstRand stock lifted 0.38 percent to R55.6. Investors rewarded Standard Bank for the 11 percent jump in first-half profit announced on Thursday, and the share traded 1.09 percent stronger at R163.9. Enditem
