OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2015. South African stocks edged higher on Tuesday after a banking recommendation upgrade on Lonmin restored some confidence in the recently battered mining sector.

Emerging market stocks were broadly firmer as speculation the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates soon waned.

The blue-chip JSE Top-40 index was up 0.14 percent at 46,269 points and the broader All-share index gained 0.3 percent to 52,300.

Both indices dropped nearly 3 percent last week, their biggest weekly fall since the middle of December last year. Mining companies have suffered heavy losses in recent weeks due to lower commodity prices but shares rallied after Citi upgraded its rating on Lonmin's london-listed stock to 'buy'.

Lonmin's Johannesburg-listed shares jumped more than 9 percent, while BHP Billiton and Anglo Platinum both climbed nearly 3 percent.

Gold futures reversed earlier losses, providing further support for AngloGold and Gold Fields, which gained five percent and 7 percent respectively. "Precious metals stocks could see some short-term buying because they are trading too cheap.

But I don't see them holding these levels in the long term," said Nolan Macnamara, a derivatives trader at Nedbank Private Wealth.

On the downside, index heavyweights Naspers and SABMiller both fell more than one percent.