The Johannesburg Security Exchange burst through the 19,000 level for the first time ever on Tuesday, just over a month after its initial breach of 18,000.

A weaker rand, positive sentiment towards equities and a recovery on global bourses acted in concert to drive the JSE higher.

The all share index closed 1.16 percent higher at 19,016.93 having reached a record high of 19,036.949 during the afternoon.

The all share industrial index jumped 1.8 percent. Resources rose 0.87 percent, the gold mining index gained 0.94 percent and the platinum mining index picked up 0.99 percent. The financial and banks indices firmed 0.7 percent and 0.42 percent respectively.

"There is very strong momentum in our market - it has a life of its own," a dealer said.

He added that while the recovery on world markets had provided a supportive backdrop for the JSE, the local bourse was outperforming them and not really following them.

Source: Xinhua