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South African mining stocks rise as gold prices reach new records

The miners listed at South Africa's major stock exchange rose sharply on Wednesday. This was boosted by the surge in global gold prices above $4,000 per ounce.

Gold Fields, AngloGold Ashanti and Harmony Gold all closed higher than 3% at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Due to economic uncertainty and expectations of U.S. rate cuts, gold, which is traditionally viewed as a store for value in times of instability has reached record highs.

Annabel Bishop is the chief economist of Investec. She said that the safe-haven status gold enjoys has caused its recent rally. This was due to concerns about the impact of tariffs and the U.S. government shutdown on U.S. economic growth, as well as increased geopolitical tensions.

Gold spot was up 1.5% to $4,045 an ounce by 1510 GMT. This brings the gains for this year to 54%.

The U.S. Dollar and crude oil have both declined for the year, making it one of the best-performing assets in 2025.

The gold's momentum spreads to other precious materials, such as platinum and palladium. This boosts the shares of Johannesburg listed companies that produce these metals, including Sibanye Stillwater which gained 5% Wednesday.

Johannesburg Stock Exchange Top-40 Index closed at 1.5%.

The rand, which is the South African currency, also gained 0.4% in value against the dollar. Its yield on the benchmark 2035 bond fell by 9 basis points, to 9.09%. (Reporting and editing by Alexander Winning, Jane Merriman and Sfundo parakozov)

(source: Reuters)