(Reuters) -South African stocks closed higher on Friday, helped by mobile groups MTN and Telkom which announced they were in merger talks.
Telkom’s shares rose over 26%, its biggest one-day percentage jump on record, while MTN advanced 5%. The potential $1 billion-plus deal would give MTN access to Telkom’s fibre assets, seen as a must for expanding 4G and 5G mobile services.
“If the deal goes through, then in the mobile space, MTN together with Telkom will be at least over 50% market share and that’s clearly, obviously a dominant market position,” AJ Snyman, an investment analyst at Peregrine Capital, said.
The Top-40 index closed 0.45% higher while the broader all-share rose 0.58%.
On the currency market, the rand strengthened, as the dollar fell after investors decided to take profits.
At 1523 GMT, the rand traded at 17.0600 against the dollar, 0.83% stronger than its previous close.
The rand often tracks global economic developments and is considered a riskier asset.
The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was stable, with the yield at 11.010%.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru and Anait Miridzhanian in Gdansk, Editing by William Maclean)
