SARAH BULLEN, Cape Town | Monday 5.00pm
A PERSISTENTLY strong rand a upbeat international markets ensured that the Johannesburg Stock Exchange had a good run on Monday.
Despite reasonably thin trade the all share index closed the day 0,11% higher — pushed up strongly by the all gold index that rose 2,04% despite only a marginal improvement in the gold price to $255,00.
The industrial index closed the day 0,13% higher while the heavyweight Alsi40 index outperformed the broader market with a 0,24% rise. The market, however, was sluggish on the day as the United States moved into a bank holiday in celebration of its Labour Day.
Asian markets ended firmer with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index up 1,57% while Tokyo’s Nikkei Dow gained 0,72%. Much of the firmer international sentiment was a trickle-through from a strong rally in Wall Street on Friday which came after the release of US jobs data. The data, which showed that the US economy created fewer jobs than expected, boosted the market which was fearing that more jobs would mean that the Fed would be compelled to increase rates to slow down growth.
Still buoyant from Wall Street’s Friday surge, European markets were trading strongly as they moved into late afternoon, with all key markets trading in positive territory.
The rand held onto its strong position against the dollar, trading as low as R6,01 earlier in the day. At 4.30pm the rand was at R6,03 to the dollar and R9,69 to the pound.
Bonds also had a strong run on Monday, with the R150 offering a 14,70% return at 4.30pm.