A weaker rand and a sterling performance by gold stocks lifted the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) into positive territory on Wednesday. Gains were seen across the board, with advancers outnumbering decliners on the all-share index by more than three to one in late morning trade.
At 11.42pm, the all-share and all-share industrial indices were up 0,72% and 0,59% respectively. Resources rallied 0,87%, with the gold-mining index rocketing 3,54% and the platinum-mining index inching up 0,15%.
Financials firmed 0,63%, while the banks index was 0,39% better.
The rand was trading at R7,40 to the dollar from R7,34 when the JSE closed on Tuesday, while gold was quoted at $361,80 an ounce from
$359,60/oz at the JSE’s last close.
“The gold price went through the roof because of the bomb blast in Baghdad yesterday and all the gold shares were firmer because of that,” a dealer said.
He said that positive sentiment from the gold sector had filtered through to the rest of the market.
AngloGold advanced 4,09% or R11 to R280, Gold Fields gained 3,91% or R3,70 to R2,70 and Harmony was 2,76% or R2,70 higher at R100,70.
Gold Fields rocketed 5,56% in New York overnight, while Harmony and AngloGold soared 3,96% and 2,78% respectively.
Other strong performers on the resources index on Wednesday included synthetic fuels group Sasol, which was 2% or R1,60 stronger at R81,70.
Lonmin leapt 2,75% or three rand to R112.
On the all-share industrial index, Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont was up 1,09% or 15c at R13,90.
Retailers put in a strong showing with Shoprite surging 5,51% or 35c to R6,70 and Pick ‘n Pay climbing 2,05% or 31c to R15,40.
Massmart, which released what the dealer described as a “very good set of results” before the opening, surged 3,04% or 70c to R23,70.
The company reported a 32,3% increase in headline earnings per share to 242,4c for the year ended June 30 from 183,2c a year ago. A final dividend of 49c was declared, up from 36c for the same period a year ago, for a total dividend of 97c.
The I-Net Bridge consensus forecast was for HEPS of 234,8c and a dividend of 85,3c.
Steel producer Iscor was unchanged at R18,20 after it reported diluted headline earnings per share of 553c for the year to June, almost a fourfold increase from 139c in 2002.
A final dividend of 100c per share was declared, bringing the total dividend for the year to 200c, compared with a final dividend of 100c per share in financial 2002.
An I-Net Bridge consensus forecast had put Iscor’s HEPS at 539c and dividend at 178c per share.
Iscor earlier traded as high as R18,70.
“I think Iscor will ease more. The numbers were already in the market. What is important is their negative outlook,” the dealer asserted.
Iscor cautioned that while its earnings in rand terms were difficult to forecast, in dollar terms, earnings for the half year to December 2003
would not match the level achieved during the past year.
On the financial front, banking group Absa added 35c to R36,70, while Investec Plc was up 1,14% or R1,10 to R98.
London-listed Old Mutual climbed 10c to R11,30, while Sanlam was 1,22% or nine cents stronger at R7,46.
On the JSE’s downside, telecommunications group Telkom tumbled 1,17% or 49c to R41,50.
London-listed diversified resources group Anglo American eased 25c to R136,75 after falling on the FTSE. Its losses locally were pared by the softer rand.
AngloPlat was 1,02% or three rand softer at R291. — I-Net Bridge