The JSE reached its highest level yet last week, driven by robust performances in precious metals and tech giants and renewed investor confidence in SA’s economic trajectory.
The all-share index breached the 90,000-point mark on Wednesday, before pulling back slightly on Thursday, when the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee kept the repo rate on hold at 7.5%.
After breaking through $3,000/oz for the first time last week the gold price hit a record high of $3,057 on Thursday, boosting JSE-listed miners Harmony Gold, AngloGold Ashanti and DRDGold.
MyWealth Investment CEO Annatjie van Rooyen said precious metals continued to benefit from a weaker dollar and safe-haven demand, fuelled by geopolitical uncertainty and shifts in global trade policies.
The JSE’s precious metals and mining index is up more than 50% so far this year. Gold Fields leads the gains on the bourse, up 62% to R399.68, followed by DRDGold, 61% to the good at R26.67 and Harmony, which has risen more than 57% to R237.28.
Of the top 10 performers on the JSE in 2025, eight are mining companies. The all share is up 6.45%.
According to the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), SA has historically benefited from global crises that drive up commodity prices, creating a “positive feedback loop”.
When geopolitical tension rises, investors seek safe-haven assets such as gold, providing a boost to SA’s mining sector — a vital component of the economy. As commodity prices surge, the country’s export revenue, tax receipts and foreign exchange reserves also increase, providing a crucial buffer against domestic challenges such as political instability and fiscal deficits.
Schroders commodities fund manager Jim Luke also said the gold rally was due to macroeconomic and geopolitical pressure, including fiscal strains in major economies (US, China, EU and Japan) and instability in global monetary and trade systems.
This shift was evident in the changing behaviour of central banks and Western investors, he said.
“After leading the charge in gold purchases between 2022 and 2024, central banks — particularly China — are now being joined by Western investors, who have turned from net sellers to buyers over the past four years.
“We’re at the foothills of another meaningful gold bull market,” Luke said.
Locally, postelection stability, improved electricity supply and structural reforms in transport and logistics have bolstered the rand and market sentiment.
In addition to mining, Van Rooyen said the rally extended to some other sectors, including retail and tech, which provided further impetus for the JSE.
“Retailers like Pepkor and Mr Price rallied sharply, benefiting from low inflation and consumer resilience,” she said, highlighting the significant increase of 7% year on year in retail sales in January from an upwardly revised 3.2% in December.
“Naspers and Prosus are climbing on solid fourth quarter results from Tencent,” she said.
Apart from the benefits from rising commodity prices, the rand has firmed recently due to an improvement in SA’s current account, in which the deficit plunged in the fourth quarter of last year due to a growth in exports. A weaker dollar has also helped its cause.
“The rand has held up well due to dollar weakness and optimism around political stability and economic reforms in the transport and logistics sectors,” said Van Rooyen. “Economic fundamentals remain sound with inflation well contained and at the lower end of the Reserve Bank’s target range.”
While the outlook for SA markets remains positive, analysts caution against overvaluation risks. Geopolitical shifts, rand volatility, and prolonged global instability could dampen momentum.
At 4pm on Friday, the rand was little changed at R18.20/$. It is 3.3% firmer so far this year.
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