Aspen, gold firms provide dose of positivity to JSE

THE BOURSE rebounded yesterday, with Aspen Pharmacare hitting a record high after the generic drugmaker teamed up with shareholder GlaxoSmithKline to extend its foothold in Japan.

The Top40 index was up 0.16 percent to 42 913.11 points and the all share index added 0.21 percent to 48 133.52.

Shares in peaked at R354.99 during the session on hopes the deal would put it in a prime position to benefit from Japanese lawmakers’ push for more generic drugs to go on sale. The stock closed 1.91 percent higher at R346.60.

“All in all, this is another positive for Aspen,” Sasha Naryshkine, a fund manager at Vestact, said. “Unsurprisingly, Aspen is trading at an all-time high.”

Overall, the main indices rebounded after two sessions of declines, helped by gold producers as the price of bullion rose to a two-week high.

climbed 5.31 percent to R127.85,

picked up 4.49 percent to R43.07 and surged 7.58 percent to R23.55.

was up by

by

Aspen’s closing gain, down from a high of 4.38%

4.41 percent to R24.62. Chief executive Neal Froneman said the gold producer’s dividend was sustainable at the current levels until 2028. Among other gainers,

moved up 1.73 percent to R283.40 after UBS added the international services, trading and distribution company to its most-preferred list.

rose 2.51 percent to R7.34. The financial services provider said first-half earnings excluding items grew to 11.5c from 8.9c a year ago.

declined for a fourth consecutive day. Shares in the manufacturer, wholesaler, importer and distributor plunged 9.6 percent to end at R1.13, its lowest close since July 2009.

An above-average 216 million shares changed hands on the JSE, compared with last year’s daily average of 176 million shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners 173 to 126.