The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) held on to many of the gains made in morning, with the bourse in the black at midday on Wednesday. The market took cheer from strength in European markets, as well as the positive close in the United States overnight, although banking and financial counters were taking strain.
At noon the all-share index was 0,51% higher, the all-share industrial index was 0,48% up, the resources index was 0,97% stronger, the gold index was flat and the platinum index added 1,23%. The financial index dipped 0,35% and the banks index was 0,73% in the red.
The rand was trading at R6,94 to the dollar, little changed from when the JSE closed on Tuesday, while gold, at $375,13 an ounce, was also steady from the JSE’s last close.
“As was the case on Tuesday, volumes have been pretty light so far. The firmness in Europe and the US has filtered through to local equities, which are also correcting from their oversold position of yesterday,” an equities dealer said.
Resource heavyweights dominated the upside, with Anglo American adding 1,23% or R1,72 to R141,20 and BHP Billiton jumped 1,85% or R1 to R55.
Impala Platinum gained 2,31% or R13 to R576, while AngloPlat inched up 30 cents to R276,50.
The price of platinum surged to an intraday high of $735,50 an ounce from an overnight close of $729,50, and was last quoted at $724,00.
Gains in industrial counters also pushed the bourse firmer, with SABMiller 1,40% or 80 cents stronger at R58,10, Richemont added 1,16% or 17 cents to R14,80 and Netcare gained 2,62% or 11 cents to R4,21.
Telecommunications counter Telkom was 2,05% or 97 cents higher at R48,40 and technology group Dimension Data picked up 3,30% or 12 cents to R3,76.
Losses in banking giant Nedcor dragged on the JSE, however, with the share losing 5,65% or R4,19 to R70,01.
This comes after the announcement on Tuesday that ex-BOE CEO Tom Boardman would replace Richard Laubscher as the group’s chief executive officer.
“The market is taking a dim view of the Boardman announcement. A lot of people had been calling for a complete outsider to look at Nedcor’s strategies and inject a bit of freshness into the company. However, our house view is to adopt a wait-and-see approach,” a dealer said.
The negativity seeped through to other banking and financial shares, with FirstRand 8 cents weaker at R8,10, while Old Mutual, which is Nedcor’s parent company, shed 8 cents to R11,87.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the positive earnings news kept on coming on Tuesday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 9 800 for the first time since May of last year — more than 16 months ago.
The Dow industrials themselves, along with most other indexes, began the day with a decline, as profit-taking dominated early trading. But as the day wore on, optimism about coming earnings news overwhelmed the selling. The blue-chip average finished ahead by 48,60 points, or 0,5%, at 9812,98, a gain of nearly 18% since the year began. The industrials now are less than 200 points short of the 10 000 milestone.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0,5%, or 9,66 points, to 1943,19. It is up almost 46% this year, at its highest level since January of last year, more than 20 months ago. The S&P 500 rose 0,4%, or 4,13 points, to 1049,48, up more than 19% this year and at its highest level in 16 months. — I-Net Bridge