Business

Golds glitter in firmer market
JOHANNESBURG -- The Johannesburg Stock Exchange made a dramatic late rally to end firmer yesterday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average index opened on a positive note. However, the local IT index continued to bear the brunt of a weaker Nasdaq, ...

Construction of R5,3m bridge nears end
By Bongani Siqoko EAST LONDON -- The construction of the R5,3 million bridge that will link DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA) production plant in West Bank with a four-level, state-of-the-art car terminal is nearly completed. Speaking on behal...

Q'town woman is finalist in business contest
EAST LONDON -- Queenstown business woman Rita Burrough of The Burrough Guest Lodge is the March winner in the Business Partners and Sanlam Entrepreneur of the Year competition. The nationwide search for outstanding entrepreneurs started in Januar...

'Economy will grow by 3%'
PAARL -- Above-average economic growth is expected for South Africa this year, says Boland PKS chief economist Francois Jansen Jansen said this was due to, among other factors, the better than expected economic growth rate in 1999, a growth-orie...

Wiese quits BoE, buys back Pepgro share
CAPE TOWN -- Cape Town retailer Christo Wiese has decided to resign all his BoE directorships and has bought back the 18,9% share held by BoE in Pepgro, the holding company of the Pepkor group, of which he is the executive chairman. Wiese said ye...

Nasdaq plummets 8% as Microsoft tumbles
NEW YORK -- Technology shares plunged yesterday, with a tumbling Microsoft dragging down the Nasdaq composite index to its biggest point drop ever. But rising shares in financial businesses pushed the Dow industrials sharply higher. The Nasdaq ...

Anglo may retain chairman, 66
JOHANNESBURG -- Anglo American plc executive chairman and CEO Julian Ogilvie Thompson says he will stay on as chairman if asked to by the group's board. The prospectus for Anglo's London listing stated that Ogilvie Thompson's combined role woul...

M-Cell gets more MTN shares
JOHANNESBURG -- Investment company M-Cell is to increase its stake in cellular telephone provider Mobile Telephone Networks Holdings (MTN) to 77%. M-Cell disclosed that it had reached agreement with certain black empowerment groups to acquire an...

Call for cellphone licence probe
CAPE TOWN -- The three main parliamentary opposition parties yesterday called for an independent commission of inquiry into the issuing of the third cellular licence, following claims of political interference in the process. SA Telecommunication...

New company to share expertise
JOHANNESBURG -- The Coronation group, in partnership with three leading businessmen, has established a new strategic management services company which will specialise in unlocking value in underperforming businesses. Coronation FRM, as the new co...

Govt supports strong trade unions ­ Zuma
DURBAN -- Deputy President Jacob Zuma reaffirmed the government's support for a strong labour movement yesterday, amid growing tension between the government and Cosatu over the federation's job loss campaign. Zuma was speaking at the 17th world ...

GOLD
NEW YORK -- Selected gold prices (in US dollars per troy ounce) yesterday: Hong Kong: 278.75; London: 278.00; Paris: 276.05; Frankfurt: N/A; Zurich: 277.35. -- Sapa-AP Easte...

NEW HIGHS and LOWS
NEW HIGHS PRICEPREV CLIENTL 17351700 CORPBANK 555525 VESTA 260250 NEW LOWS PRICEPREV SASFIN 650670 SPICER 1518 HEAVEN 58 TOURVST 6268 AFBRAND 1617 ITI-TECH 100110 VALUECOM 2021 UCS 210230 TER-FIN 2025 UAM 2629 ACUMEN 5355 ...

INDICES
JOHANNESBURG -- Selected indices for JSE at close of trade: All share: 7982.3 up 25.1 Industrials: 9196.9 up 40.4 Financial: 10,225.5 up 32.4 All gold: 1092.6 up 16.0 ...

JOHANNESBURG STOCK EXCHANGE at the close
SecurityRuling Day's price move MINING COAL CENTURY139 DUIKERS555 -5 TWEEFONTN 10120 WANKIE55 DIAMONDS DE-BEERS15200 -100 GEM88 ICH3450 ODMHOLD800 TRNSHEX770 GOLD ANGGOLD31360 +80 AVGOLD400 DBNDP-O3SUS DBN-DEEP870 +80 DBNDP-BO310 E-R-P-M50SUS ...

MAJOR MOVEMENTS
DAILY TOP 10 UP JIGSAW 205105+ 105,0 ACUITY 5025+ 100,0 TOCO 114+ 57,1 CIH 31+ 50,0 DBN DP 31070+ 29,2 REFCORP92+ 28,6 KAIROS 51+ 25,0 INFOWAV153+ 25,0 KLIPTON163+ 23,1 MATHOMO173+ 21,4 WEEKLY TOP 10 UP ADVSRC-5028+ 127,3 ACUITY 5025+...

RATES OF EXCHANGE
JOHANNESBURG -- Yesterday's closing exchange rates, as supplied by Standard Bank: (R/, R/US$ and R/Irish punt, other rates per rand.) USA6,6385 EURO6,4414 GREAT BRITAIN10,6048 IRELAND8,1771 UAE,5532 AUSTRIA2,1414 AUSTRALIA,2441 BELGIUM6,2743 BOTSW...

SHIPPING
EAST LONDON -- In port last night: Barrier at K corner. Arrived yesterday: Iyo (0500) from Durban to L, Barrier (1530) from Port Elizabeth to K corner. Sailed yesterday: Iyo (1800) to Port Elizabeth. Due today: Nil. ...

UNIT TRUSTS
FUND NAMEBUYSELL ABSA: Aggressive FoF151,06144,32 Balanced108,67102,06 Fincl&Ind Index110,66103,93 Flexible109,71103,04 General226,10212,35 Growth FoF112,09107,08 Income108,52107,30 International240,33225,71 Money Market100,40100,00 Spec Growt...