Johannesburg - South African stocks ended higher on Thursday, led by Naspers [JSE:NPN] after a broker upgrade while banks extended gains for the third straight session.
Naspers topped the gainers' list on the blue-chip index after brokerage house UBS raised its rating on the e-commerce and media firm to 'buy' from 'neutral'.
Its shares climbed 4.8% to R1 340, the biggest daily percentage gain since July.
Banks featured among the gainers, continuing a recovery from a three week-low last week. Nedbank picked up 1.7% to R229.49 and FirstRand added 1.3% to R44.72.
"There is a little bit of bargain hunting that has come back into the banking sector again," said Ferdi Heyneke, a trader at Afrifocus Securities.
Traders were largely unfazed by the South African central bank's decision to leave rates unchanged and a subsequent announcement that its governor would step down.
The blue-chip JSE Top-40 index was up 0.9% at 46 226 and the broader All-share index gained 0.7% to 51 547.
On the downside, gold shares dropped as the price of bullion sank to its lowest in more than eight months. Harmony fell 3.4% to R26.80 and larger rival Gold Fields dropped 1.9% to 46.68.
Trade was robust, with 294 million shares changing hands, well above last year's daily average of 176 million , and 145 companies gaining while 143 dropped.
* Fin24 is part of Media24, a subsidiary of Naspers.