OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 6.00pm.
A POSITIVE finish on Wall Street and sturdier domestic bond and rand markets jacked up shares on the JSE for the second session in a row on Wednesday, but stocks soon gave away some opening gains.
Diamond giant De Beers , the exchange’s third biggest stock by value, jumped after it said it could hive off a portion of its stake in Anglo American to fund new opportunities in the gem industry.
Banking counters, which have underperformed in recent weeks despite being tipped by many fund managers as holding the most promise this year, were at the forefront of the market’s rise.
”At the higher levels we drew a few sellers again. But this is a far more reasonable progression and we seem to be getting back into a range where traditional investors are comfortable,” a Cape Town-based equity dealer said.
The Fed concludes its two-day interest rate policy-setting committee meeting on Wednesday and an announcement on a rate move is expected later tonight.
Upbeat data on the shrinking foreign borrowing position boosted the bond and rand market, which in turn gave more ammunition to the bourse. This is the third piece of positive domestic economic data this week.
The rand ended off its best levels for the day on the back of local dollar buying. The rand was last trading at 6.2810 to the dollar, little changed from its previous close, but off its intraday best level of 6.2360. –Reuters