The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa crawled into positive territory at the opening on Friday, aided by a weaker currency which lifted heavyweight rand hedge
stocks.
However, with world markets down and the rand difficult to call, the bourse was unsure of its direction and early volumes were extremely light.
At 0918, the all share index was up 0,19%. Resources were 0,33% stronger, with the gold mining index climbing 0,97% and the platinum mining index jumping 1,20%. Financials had inched up 0,10%, while the banks index was 0,16% better. The all share industrial index was flattish (+0,06%).
The rand was trading at 7,60 to the dollar from 7,49 when the JSE closed on Thursday, while gold was quoted at $344,20 an ounce, up about $1 from the JSE’s last close.
A dealer said the rand’s volatility was making the market difficult to call. This, coupled with a lack of fresh news to drive activity, accounted for very low volumes.
“The stocks that are firmer are up on the back of the rand, which is helping particularly on the resources side. However, Europe is down and Asian markets are a bit weaker and all indications are that the US will open down.”
This suggested that big gains were not to be expected on the JSE, she asserted.
Shares to gain in early trade included London-listed diversified resources group Anglo American, which added 50 cents to R118,90.
AngloGold advanced 2,54% or six rand to R242 and Harmony was up 1,60% or R1,50 at R95,50.
AngloPlat climbed 1,04% or R2,39 to R232 and Impala improved 1,41% or R6,50 to R469.
Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont was six cents stronger at R12,65 and London-listed financial services group Old Mutual was up five cents at R11,20.
On the JSE’s downside, South Africa’s second largest financial services group Sanlam slipped 1,06% or eight cents to R7,50.
The Wall Street Journal reports that after surprising many investors with their rampaging gains at the start of the month, US stocks on Thursday staged a widely predicted pullback.
The Nasdaq Composite Index, whose many technology stocks had sent it to a series of 14-month highs, fell 1,81%, or 31,60 points, to 1,715.86.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had given up 67 points on Wednesday, fell 120,17 points, or 1,31%, to 9,036.04.
The immediate catalyst for the declines was a quarterly earnings report from Internet portal Yahoo that matched analysts’ expectations but missed the “whisper” number — the higher expectation that many Wall Street insiders, who had bid the stock up ahead of the news, were hoping to get.
Adding to the disappointment was another round of gloomy job numbers, showing new unemployment claims rising yet again last week. Economists had forecast a decline. The new claims remained above 400 000 for the 21st consecutive week.
On top of that, June retail sales were mediocre. The broad Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, which includes Yahoo, fell 1,35%, or 13,51 points, to 988,70.
In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average recorded its biggest point fall this year as two days of declines in US stocks triggered heavy profit-taking, notably in high-tech issues such as Fujitsu. The Nikkei 225 tumbled 3,2% or 320,27 points to 9,635.35, slipping below 9,700 for the first time since last Friday. The index fell 35,33 points yesterday.
Strong resistance around the psychologically key 10 000 level in the last few days has also made some investors less optimistic about the outlook. – I-Net Bridge