South African markets closed in the green yesterday, buoyed by gains in pharmaceutical and retail sector stocks. Pharmaceutical companies, Life Healthcare and Netcare advanced 3.0% and 1.4%, respectively. Retailers, SPAR Group, Cashbuild, Clicks Group and Pick ‘n Pay Stores gained 2.9%, 1.8%, 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively.
Food companies, RCL Foods, Famous Brands, RFG Holdings and Tiger Brands rose 2.8%, 1.3%, 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively. Lenders, FirstRand, Nedbank Group and Capitec Bank Holdings added 1.7%, 1.0% and 0.8%, respectively.
On the flipside, platinum miners, Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Northam Platinum dropped 6.3%, 5.2% and 3.7%, respectively.