JOHANNESBURG – South African stocks booked their highest close on record on Thursday as shares of Anglo American and its unit Kumba Iron-Ore rose on solid first-quarter production.
"We are strong but we won't sustain these sort of levels. The resources are definitely shining and that's purely from the numbers that came out," said brokerage firm Lehumo Capital MD Martin Lentsoane.
The Top-40 index ended up 0.58% at 43 900.89, after hitting a lifetime record of 44,048.53 in the session. The All-Share index, which hit a record high of 49 069.63 during the day, closed up 0.59% at 48 934.51.
Anglo American rose 1.7% to R278.01 while Kumba gained 2.2% to R382.46. Anglo American posted an increase its copper and iron-ore output for the first quarter of 2014, but its platinum output slumped, hit by a strike at is South African operations.
Iron-ore producer Assore rose 2% to R426.27.
Advancers outpaced decliners 182 to 127, as 203-million shares changed hands, according to preliminary bourse data.