SARAH BULLEN, Cape Town | Thursday 5.15pm.
THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange benefited from a swing in demand from tech stock to ‘old economy’ stock on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors moved back into resources. New York’s tech-heavy Nasqaq took a tumble on Wednesday as buyers moved across to the broader Dow Jones industrial average.
Local markets followed suit, with the resouces counter which makes up a third of the JSE rising accordingly. Dealers have been saying for a while that resources are oversold and looking cheap at the moment as tech counters have leapt in a mirror of the US’s appetite for the ‘new economy’. Steel producer Iscor leaped 14% to R17,35, minerals group Billiton soared 15% to R29,50.
By close of trade the resources index had gained 5,40%. The leap in resources index pulled the overall market 1,47% higher, despite all other key indices taking a dip. Gold was the the biggest loser on the day, with the all gold index losing 2,10% as the gold price remained below the $290 an ounce mark. At 4.00pm gold was trading at $288,15 an ounce. Industrial and financial stock were hard-hit, with the indices losing 0,13% and 0,21% respectively.
The bourse notched up second biggest daily turnover this year, worth R4,74-billion, in hectic dealings as March futures contracts expired. The rand held fairly steady around the R4,46 to the dollar mark. Asian markets had a mixed day with Japan’s Nikkei Dow up 0,92% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2,32%.