A quiet day on the bourse due to a US holiday saw the JSE end in the black on Monday, led by commodities, and despite a stronger rand.

By the 5pm close, the JSE all share index had gained 1.22 percent, with resources firming 1.90 percent, platinum counters adding 2.27 percent and gold miners collecting 1.64 percent.

Banks edged up 0.26 percent, financials inched up 0.38 percent and industrials put on 0.91 percent.

The rand was bid at 7.59 to the dollar, from 7.63 when the JSE closed on Friday. Gold was quoted at US$995.50 a troy ounce from $987.97/oz at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1258/oz, from $1252.50/oz at its previous close.

A local trader said: "It has been a quiet day today volume wise, with markets waiting for the US to open again tomorrow.

"Commodities pushed the JSE higher, but of concern will be the rand strength, although it had no affect on the market today.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that with the US market closed, the Kraft bid for Cadbury continues to dominate trading. Cadbury still leads the bluechips in London, currently +40 percent.

Joshua Raymond at City Index said: "investors are hoping that despite their bid being rejected, Kraft will come back with another offer and that M&A activity will start to pick up on a broader scale."

There was no economic data in the afternoon session.

Back in Johannesburg, Anglo American plc was 1.20 percent firmer at 252.49 rand and BHP Billiton rose 2.16 percent to 202.65 rand.

Petrochemicals group Sasol picked up 3.19 percent to 293 rand.

ArcelorMittal collected 3.21 percent to 112.50 rand but Kumba Iron Ore declined 2.50 rand to 250 rand.

Diversified miner Exxaro waned 2.89 percent to 87.50 rand.

Among gold miners AngloGold Ashanti was three rand higher to 324 rand, while Harmony gained 3.06 percent to 83.99 rand. Goldfields advanced 2.07 percent to 106.15 rand.

Platinum miner Anglo Platinum advanced 2.39 percent to 686 rand, Impala Platinum was 2.13 percent richer to 188.95 rand and Lonmin gained 5.66 percent to 208.15 rand, having added 8.09 percent on Friday amid rumours of a fresh bid from Xstrata.

Elsewhere on the JSE, brewer SABMiller put on 1.43 percent to 181.24 rand and British American Tobacco saw 1.61 percent rise to 241.90 rand.

Imperial declined 1.66 percent to 72.48 rand, along with AECI down 2.08 percent to 56 rand but Tigerbrands moved the other way, gaining a rand to 154 rand.

Nedbank declined 3.27 percent to 109 rand and Investec dropped 2.30 percent to 56.55 rand.

Retailer JD Group moved 1.25 percent higher to 56.55 rand.

Construction group M&R Holdings dropped by 3.34 percent to 51.80 rand, but WBHO added 2.47 percent to 118.05 rand. Earlier the group on Monday reported a rise in diluted headline earnings per share to 1605.3 cents for the year ended June 2099 from 1259.4 cents a year ago.

Revenue was up 37 percent to R14.769-billion, while operating profit grew to R2.032-billion from R959-million a year ago.

A final dividend of 200 cents per share was declared, resulting in a total dividend for the year of 300 cents.

The results were achieved despite the difficult conditions in the construction sector. The operating margin slipped slightly from 8.3 percent last year to 7.1 percent reflecting the tighter conditions in the construction sector both at home and abroad.

Food group AVI Limited declined 1.32 percent to 18.75 rand. It earlier reported an 8.8 percent rise in diluted headline earnings per share from continuing operations to 171.5 cents for the year ended June 2009 from 157.6 cents a year ago.

A final dividend of 52 cents per share was declared, bringing the total dividend to 88 cents per share — up from 80 cents a year ago.

Revenue from continuing operations was up 12 percent to R7.5-billion and operating profit from continuing operations grew 14 percent to R908-million.

AVI said it has delivered solid earnings growth and maintained a strong balance sheet despite the challenging environment with both increasing pressure on consumers' disposable incomes and high costs of key raw materials.

Compagnie Richemont gained 3.29 percent to 21.02 rand.

Telecommunications group MTN Group was up 75 cents to 125.25 rand.

Media group Naspers N added 2.65 percent to 251.50 rand.

I-Net Bridge