South African stock market closes positive as oil prices rise

THE JSE closed positive on Tuesday with the all share index was up 0.4 percent to close at 53,380.94 points, led by the resource stocks, which in turn, responded to an advance in metal prices.

In mid-afternoon trade, the price of Brent crude had gained 1.37 percent to 43.68 U.S. dollars a barrel despite the failure by oil producers at the weekend to reach an agreement to halt a supply glut in the market.

The rand also firmed to its best level in almost five months on Tuesday afternoon as the dollar lost further ground to the euro.

The rand was trading at R14.3994 to the dollar from R14.4737 at Monday's close.

Among some individual shares on the JSE, Anglo American surged 3.88 percent to R147.77 and BHP Billiton gained 2.69 percent to R194.

Glencore was up 3.07 percent to R33.27, with Kumba Iron Ore climbing 2.96 percent to R99.77. Gold Fields was up 1.69 percent to R60.04.

Luxury goods maker Richemont was up 1.37 percent to R98.88 while MTN also rose 0.85 percent to R141.95.