JOHANNESBURG, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Share prices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) closed higher on Friday.
The JSE all share index closed 0.41 percent higher at 59,169.23 points, and the top 40 index gained 0.56 percent.
The South African rand was stable on Friday, trading at 11.79 to the U.S. dollar at 5:15 p.m., up from Thursday's 11.9.
Weaker commodity prices around the world spooked mining stocks. Exxaro Resources dropped 11.85 percent to R107 and Kumba Iron Ore slipped 0.62 percent to R320.5.
FirstRand lost 4.45 percent to R66.42. Standard Bank added 1.86 percent to R225.07, having reported on Thursday that headline earnings per share for the year to end-December grew 14 percent to R16.4.
Telecom operator Vodacom slipped 2.2 percent to R162.35 and MTN Group 2.21 percent to R132.02, after shooting up 10 percent on Thursday when it reported a return to profitability.
Property group Resilient gave up 2.77 percent to R66.42, after gaining 9 percent on Thursday following its announcement about its group structure.
Diversified industrial group Bidvest retreated 2.36 percent to R227.9, Imperial 2.15 percent to R246.67, and Barloworld 4.42 percent to R167.47.
Drugmaker Aspen was up 2.7 percent to R268.77 and Mediclinic 2.85 percent to R101.
Gold Fields lost 2.02 percent to R45.98 and Impala Platinum 3.25 percent to R27.42. Enditem
