Bourse climbs, boosted by Group Five

STOCKS gained yesterday, led higher by construction firm Group Five, which jumped the most in eight years.

The blue chip JSE Top40 index rose 0.86 percent to 43 192.44 points, while the broader all share index climbed 0.93 percent to 49 713.56 points.

Group Five shares gained 9.73 percent to R25.38, advancing the most since July 2008, to a seven-week high.

Aberdeen Infrastructure Funds, unit of Aberdeen Asset Management, announced it would acquire 49.99 percent stake in Intertoll Europe’s underlying Public-Private-Partnership project investment portfolio that houses Group Five’s European investment and concession assets.

Among major decliners, Sibanye Gold closed 5.69 percent lower at R27.68 on lower gold prices.

Meanwhile, Italian shares rose yesterday as investors bet against an immediate snap election in Italy following Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s resignation after defeat in a constitutional reform referendum.

Markets had been jolted by the scale of Renzi’s defeat which pointed to further turbulence and political crisis in the euro zone’s heavily indebted third-largest economy and particular uncertainty was focussed on the country’s fragile banks.

The Milan bourse shed as much as 2 percent at the opening.