JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) closed in positive territory on Wednesday buoyed by industrials stock.

The all share was up 0.33 percent to 57,399.55 points and the blue chip top 40 edged up 0.3 percent to 50,556 points, while the industrial index gained 1.04 percent.

The South Africa's rand extended gains, touching R11.79 to the U.S. dollar for the first time since 2015, after the ANC resolved to support a parliamentary motion of no confidence to remove President Jacob Zuma from office.

However, Zuma insisted that he will not throw in the towel. The ruling party announced that he has to step down or be recalled following a special national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Tuesday.

The stronger rand favored retail stocks, in particular, while banks turned positive on the prospect of Zuma's removal.

Food and drug retailers rose 2.82 percent, general retailers 1.77 percent, industrials 0.8 percent, banks 0.75 percent, and platinums 0.68 percent. Property dropped 1.48 percent and resources 0.62 percent.

Sasol dropped 1.33 percent to R388.45, Remgro rose 2.51 percent to R229.63.

Harmony Gold leapt 10.51 percent to R23.34, continuing its rally from Tuesday when it reported a 49-percent rise in first-half headline earnings per share.

Standard Bank added 1.41 percent to R207.93, while Capitec was off 3.74 percent to R813.26.

Steinhoff shed 2.22 percent to R5.28, while Shoprite climbed 1.52 percent to a record R252.43.

Among property stocks, Resilient lost 5.88 percent to R96 and Hyprop Investments 2.97 percent to R108.

Naspers rose 1.88 percent to R3,169.99. Taste Holdings dropped 4.11 percent to 70c. Enditem