WEDNESDAY, 6.15PM:
FINANCIAL shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange — the market’s strongest performer of late — had their bull run halted on Wednesday as they fell victim to a bout of profit taking.
The industrial and all gold indices also fell on a combination of futures trade and the soft bullion price, dealers said. Despite the weak performance of the market, dealers took an optimistic view, saying the market was due for a correction and that it happened in an orderly manner, which was encouraging for further growth in the near future.
The all gold index dropped 18,4 points to close at 766,6, while the industrial index fell 19,5 points to a 8304,6 close. The financial index was driven down 230,5 points to 13047,5 and the all share index also shed 70,3 points to end the day on 7052.
Bonds closed slightly weaker on Tuesday, although the market was still bullish after favourable gross foreign reserves and producer price index data was released on Tuesday.
The benchmark R150 government long bond was last quoted at a 13,100% yield — two basis points weaker than the previous close after trading between 13,05% and 13,110% during the day.
The longer-dated R153 bond was last quoted at 13,305% — 3,5 basis points softer than the previous close.
The rand gave up its Tuesday gains to the US dollar during the course of Wednesday’s trading. Local punters bought dollars and the US unit strengthened on international currency markets. Dealers hinted that the Reserve Bank has been a net buyer of dollars this week, ensuring that the rand does not appreciate too quickly as a result of demand for SA gilts and equities.
At the close, the rand was quoted around R4,9300-30 to the dollar from its Tuesday close of R4,9275-05 after trading between bids of R4,9280 and R4,9330 during the day’s session.