Reporting By Peroshni Govender| From Reuters Africa

South African stocks scaled a fresh record on Thursday partly lifted by strong earnings by Woolworths, which helped boosted the prices of other retailers.

Woolworths said its half-year earnings jumped 29 percent, underpinned by sales by David Jones, an Australian retailer it acquired last year.

“Despite the rand being very weak and at its worst levels, they are still buying stocks in the retailers because of the strong trading updates from the likes of Woolworths,” said Ferdi Heyneke, portfolio manager at Afrifocus Securities.

The rand currency weakened to a near 13-year low on Wednesday as long-standing economic frailties and more immediate socio political pressures turned sentiment against the unit.

The All-share index closed Thursday’s trade at a life high of 52,508, up 0.8 percent. The Top-40 added 0.9 percent to 46,290.

Other retailers such as Truworths and Foschini took a cue from the strong earnings by rival Woolworths and rose 7 and 6.5 percent respectively.

Read more at Reuters Africa