Johannesburg - Stocks gained on Thursday, led by MTN Group after the mobile firm declared a dividend despite reporting a loss for the first time in 20 years.
The benchmark JSE Top40 index rose 0.36 percent to 44836.9 points, while the all share index climbed 0.41 percent to 51893.19 points.
Shares in mobile network operator MTN jumped 8.32 percent to R126.75 after the company said falling into the red would not prevent it from paying a dividend.
“They indicated that they will sustain a [full year] dividend of 700 cents, which investors see as a positive,” said Avior Capital Markets trader, Mark Hodgson.
Among the gainers on the benchmark Top40 index was Standard Bank, which rose 6.52 percent to R155.95 after it reported a rise in full-year profit, Impala Platinum, which advanced 2.8 percent to R43.67, and Gold Fields, which gained 2.96 percent to R41.08.
Meanwhile, Wall Street dropped in the afternoon as investors took a breather after a record day.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.08 percent to 21098.34 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 had lost 0.29 percent to 2388.98 points and the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.33 percent to 5884.30 points.
MSCI’s global stocks index was down 0.2 percent.