After eight days of weakness, the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) bounced into the black on Friday on the back of a weaker rand, which boosted heavyweight dual-listed stocks.
At 12.24pm, the all-share index was 1,3% stronger. Resources had rallied 1,86%, with the gold and platinum mining indices jumping 1,24% and 1,51% respectively. Financials were 1,14% firmer, the banks index was up 1,02% and the all-share industrial index had climbed 0,58%.
The rand was last trading at R7,05 per dollar, from R6,89 when the JSE closed on Thursday, while gold was $395,90 an ounce, from $399,60/oz at the JSE’s last close.
“We are getting back what we lost yesterday [Thursday],” a dealer said. “Yesterday, there was aggressive selling on the back of the rand’s strength and today we are seeing the reverse. All the rand hedges are better and we are seeing demand for stocks that were under pressure in recent days, like Sappi and Impala.”
She said that telecoms stocks were leading the markets downside.
Advancers on Friday included London-listed diversified resources group Anglo American, which added 2,4% or R3,70 to R157,75, and BHP Billiton, which was 2,73% or R1,55 higher at R58,25.
AngloGold gained 1,4% or R3,99 to R289, Gold Fields was up 1,28% or R1,10 to R87 and Harmony was 80 cents higher at R107,01.
Impala Platinum leaped 2,19% or R12 to R560 and AngloPlat was up R2,51 to R312,50.
Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont rallied 1,28% or 22 cents to R17,37 and London-listed beverages group SABMiller surged 1,8% or R1,24 to R70,30.
Pulp and paper producer Sappi strengthened 2,75% or R2,55 to R95,30.
Financials to firm included London-listed Old Mutual, which was up 2,93% or 34 cents at R11,95.
Niche banking group Investec continued its recovery, with Investec Plc soaring 3,08% or R4,03 to R135,06 and Investec Ltd jumping 2,47% or R3,25 to R135.
FirstRand firmed 1,53% or 14 cents to R9,30 and Standard Bank was 1,07% or 43 cents better at R40,71.
On the downside, telecommunications group Telkom tumbled 3,26% or R2,51 to R74,50 and cellular network operator MTN Group was off 1,09% or 33 cents to R29,85.
Banking group Nedcor dipped 1,01% or 70 cents to R68,30. — I-Net Bridge