OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2015. South African stocks ended higher on Monday as traders chased after bargains after the main indices suffered their biggest weekly drop of the year in the previous week.

The blue-chip JSE Top-40 index was up 0.72 percent to 46,202 and the broader All-share index rose 0.66 percent at 52.139.

Both indices dropped nearly 3 percent last week, their biggest weekly fall since the middle of December last year amid growing views that the U.S. could raise interest rates as early as June.

"The much oversold short term position encourages some bargain-hunting, short-covering and very short-term technical improvement," Imara SP Reid said in a note.

Financials dominated the gainers' list on the benchmark index with Investec and Barclays Africa Group up 3.6 and 2.8 percent respectively.

On the downside, African Rainbow Minerals plunged 7.89 percent after the mining firm said first-half profit fell by more than half.

Trade was relatively slow with 173 million shares changing hands, below last year's daily average of 183 million shares.