THURSDAY, 6.00PM:
THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange struggled for direction on Friday, tussling with profit taking. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s adjustments appropriations speech in Parliament was generally well received by the market.
The all gold index lost 11,6 points to close at 823,8 while the industrial index fell 23,2 points to a 7 823,9 close. The financial index, however, picked up 19,3 points to 11 699,3 and the all share index ended 24,2 points higher at 6 656.
Overall trade was described as good as 106,225-million shares worth R1,034-billion changed hands.
The bond market took a while to digest the finer details of Manuel’s speech and an initial sell-off turned as the market firmed after noon. The benchmark R150 government long bond closed the week at a 13,395% yield — 3,5 basis point better than Thursday’s close after trading in a range of 13,37% to 13,43% in the afternoon session. The longer-dated R153 bond ended at a 13,52% yield from 13,54% at the previous close.
The rand was last quoted at R4,9365/95 to the dollar from a previous R4,9365.
Gold stood at $298,85 from a London morning fix of $298/oz.
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