MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Wednesday 5.00pm.
SOUTH African share markets recovered from a bout of selling on Wednesday, as most share indices started strong and held onto their gains through the day. Bonds and the rand held relatively steady.
Domestic factors featured heavily in the rebound, as dealers said the markets had oversold when taking profits in the resources sector in recent days.
The all share picked up 38 points for a gain of 0,53%, while industrials made 0,51% off 36 points. Financials grabbed 76 points for an 0,82% rise. All gold came back 28 points for a 2,72% gain, as the gold price bounced back above $260 to $261,45 an ounce.
Bonds stayed close to Tuesday’s 14,54% close, finishing only 6 basis points off at 14,60%. A healthy gold price and good sentiment in the morning helped the benchmark R150 stay near yesterday’s levels. Dealers thought the R150 might break 14,50% as it rallied early, but gains faded away in the afternoon.
The rand held steady, closing at R6,12 from Tuesday’s R6,11 finish. The gold price and firm bonds helped the currency.
Internationally, Asia felt a relief rally based primarily on yesterday’s good news on Wall Street. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rocketed 210 points or 1,64%. Tokyo’s Nikkei-225 joined in the party, breaking the 18000 barrier in intraday trading, but profit-taking kept final gains to 32 points or 0,18%.
In Europe, the news was bad, as a weak open on Wednesday in New York brought the continental exchanges down. London was spared as the Bank of England voted to leave its discount rate unchanged at 5%. The FTSE-100 finished up 19 points or 0,31%. Frankfurt’s DAX had a meltdown after the US open, losing early gains and ending down 30 points or 0,57%. Paris’ CAC-40 kept losses to 2 points or 0,05%.
The Dow opened off on Wall Street, losing 86 points by 10:45am in New York (4.45pm in Johannesburg).