FRIDAY, 6.00PM:
SUSPECTED foreign buying drove up the all share and financial indices of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to record highs in heavy trade on Thursday.
As usual, the gold index flagged, dragged by the weaker gold price.
At the close, the all gold index had dropped 19,9 points to 823,1. The industrial index rose 133,1 points to 9130, while the financial index dropped two points to 14375,6. The all share index finished 67,2 points at 7778.
More than 139,7-million shares worth around R1,674-million were traded.
Bonds ended strongly on Thursday after limited range trade. Trading remained within one basis point of a 12,87% yield on the R150 from morning. No direction came from the repo rate.
At 4.00pm, the R150 government long bond was at 12,87% from Thursday’s 12,92%. The R153 was at 13,155% from 13,18% and the R157 at 13,27% from 13,27%.
The rand fought back valiantly against the dollar from the all-time lows of the last three days. It was backed up by good reserves figures, firmer bonds and a less vigorous dollar.
Gold and foreign exchange reserves figures released this morning were encouraging, as the Reserve Bank reported an increased of R1,9-billion to R32,8-billion. There was a $1,2 billion reduction in the Bank’s net oversold open position to $12,8 billion.
The rand was trading at R5,3085 against the dollar and at R8,4066 to the pound at 4.30pm.