BHP, Standard Bank, AngloGold lift S.Africa stocks

(Reuters) - BHP Billiton buoyed South African shares on Friday on firm base metal prices and lingering consolidation talk within the sector, and Standard Bank led banks higher on a positive research note.

Investors piled into index heavyweight BHP as companies in the mining sector approached the reporting season with a strong tail-wind of robust commodity prices, that would see their earnings and possibly dividends grow, traders and analysts said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Lead Rises to Record for a Third Day Amid Supply Disruption; Copper Climbs

(Bloomberg) -- Lead climbed to a record for a third
consecutive day in London on speculation that supply disruptions
and slowing production of the metal in China, the world's
largest producer, will curb output. Copper and aluminum gained.

Production growth of refined metal in China has slowed this
year because of a dearth of lead concentrate, a raw material
that is smelted into metal, Standard Bank Group Ltd. said in a
report. The shortage has been exacerbated by a stoppage at
Ivernia Inc.'s Australian mine, which halted deliveries in March
following a lead-poisoning investigation, the bank said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News