On Tuesday (February 4), the South African FTSE/JSE Africa Leading 40 Index closed up 1.12% at 78,342.44 points, approaching the closing level of 78,481.18 points on December 13, 2024, and the historical closing high of 79,510.60 points set on September 27 of that year.
As gold prices continue to hit record highs, constituent stocks generally rose, with Bidvest Group (BVT.SJ) up 4.4%, Sibanye Stillwater up 3.57% in second place, mining stocks Glencore (GLN) up 2.88% in fifth place, Anglo American (AGL) up 1.08% performing well, Harmony Gold Mining (HAR) up 0.5% in sixth place from the bottom, Gold Fields (GFI) down 0.35% in sixth place from the bottom, large coal and heavy mineral mining company Exxaro Resources (EXX) down 0.47%, and AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) down 2.45% with the largest decline. Meanwhile, Prosus (PRX) rose 2.74%, and Naspers (NPN) rose 2.69% in eighth place.
The South African Rand has currently risen over 0.4% against the US dollar, refreshing the daily high to 18.6519 Rand