The All Share Index opened higher by 352.50 points or 0.61% on Monday and continued to hold onto its gains throughout the trading session to close the day 0.50% in the black. Financials edged higher by 0.12%, with the likes of Barclays Africa and Standard Bank both trading higher by 0.58% and 0.30% respectively. Resources closed firmer by 1.16%, led by BHP Billiton which gained 1.63%. The Gold miners rallied 3.13%, led by Goldfields and AngloGold Ashanti which closed the trading session stronger by 3.79% and 3.46% respectively. On the company front, Greenbay Properties announced that the company has made a firm offer of intention to acquire Group Five’s European assets and businesses for an aggregate cash price of R1.6bn. Greenbay advised that the target assets are consistent with its investment policy and would provide the company with a further platform to grow through the provision of sufficient capital and access to operating experience in Europe. The offer remains open for acceptance by Group Five until 1700 on Friday, 20 October 2017. Calgro M3 Holdings announced their results for the half year ending 31 August 2017 and the company advised that revenue had increased 40.24% to R1bn whilst HEPS had declined 26.74% to 47.71c compared to the 65.13c disclosed for the previous comparative period. No dividend was declared and the stock closed lower by 0.16%. Astral released a trading update and referred shareholders to the trading update issued on 20 September 2017 which indicated a year-on-year improvement of at least 65%, and advised that HEPS for the year ended 30 September 2017 will reflect an increase of between 80% to 100% compared to the HEPS of 965c disclosed for the previous comparable period. The further improvement is attributable to the fact that no further losses were incurred as result of the outbreak of Avian Influenza for the remainder of the 2017 financial year. The stock responded favourably to close the trading session 6.62% in the black. Implats announced a strategic investment into the Waterberg Development Project and will pay $30m in cash to acquire a 15% shareholding in the project from Platinum Group Metals Ltd (“PTM”) and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (“JOGMEC”). On the economic front, the Euro Area trade surplus narrowed to €16.1bn in August 2017 from €17.5bn in the corresponding month of the previous year and way below market expectations of €23.3bn. Exports rose 6.8% year-on-year to €171.5bn while imports grew at a faster 8.6% to €155.4bn. German Wholesale Prices increased 3.4% in September 2017 from the corresponding month of the preceding year. In August 2017 and in July 2017 the annual rates of change were 3.2% and 2.2% respectively. The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index in the US rose to 30.2 in October 2017 from 24.4 in the previous month, and way above market expectations of 20.7. It was the highest level since September 2014, as the Shipments Index climbed 11.3 points to 27.5, and the employment index rose 5 points to 15.6. Total value traded for the day was recorded at R21.250bn.