THURSDAY, 7.00PM:
FOLLOWING recent trends, financials were again the best bet on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Thursday, as investors sought the cheapest means of gaining equity in the new companies to result from various planned mergers.
Local trade was also buoyed by positive sentiment following Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index figures, which showed that inflation is continuing to decline, a good indicator for future growth.
The all gold index closed 1,1 points up at 719,7. The industrial index was up 4,2 at 8628,6, and the financial index a whopping 199,2 at 13778,6. The all share index drove a line through the middle, going up 35,4 points to 7349,6.
Bonds rallied late in the day after little earlier movement. The rally was linked to offshore hedging demand for Eurorand bond issues.
The R150 government long bond closed at 12,84% from 12,90% on Wednesday. The R153 was at 13,10% at 4.00pm from 13,12%, and the R157 at 13,23% from 13,24%.
The rand remained flaccid and is only expected to move significantly when the dollar-deutschemark rate shifts.
The rand closed at R4,9750 to the dollar and at R8,3471 to the pound.
Gold was last at $299,35 an ounce from a London morning fix of $299,85.