JSE closes lower as rand firms

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) closed lower on Friday, at the end of the month that has been dominated by rally in the resources shares.

The all share index was off 0.28 percent to 53, 073 points in early afternoon trade, as traders locked in some profits in banking and industrial sectors.

Industrials were off 0.37 percent at 77,849 and financials ended the day down 1.17 percent at 42517.

The rand was last trading at R14.18 to the dollar, R20.73 to the pound and R16.24 to the Euro. It hit a new five-month high against the dollar earlier in the day.

South Africa's trade balance swung to a 2.92 billion rand surplus in March from a revised 1.27 billion rand deficit in February, the National Revenue Agency said on Friday.

However, the resource complex continued to power ahead, lifted by a weaker dollar, which has been one of the main themes throughout April. Gold and platinum indices surged 1.98 percent and 3.38 percent apiece.

The JSE's gold miners index jumped 3.8 percent on Friday, as local miners benefited from the Bank of Japan's decision to keep the interest rates unchanged.

The index was led higher by AngloGold Ashanti, which rose 6.15 percent to R220.10, followed by Harmony's 6.11 percent to R47.74, and DRD Gold's 11.2 percent at R7. 83

Among individual shares on the JSE, Anglo American was up 3.07 percent to R157.68, with Glencore gaining 2.39 percent to R32.61.

Harmony gained 4.27 percent to R49.78 while Impala Platinum added 4.88 percent to R59.78.

FirstRand was, however, down 2.37 percent at R46.16 and Barclays Africa lost 2.39 percent to R146.09. MTN moved down 0.39 percent at 14.906, Anglo ended up 3.6 percent at 158.50.