/ 14 July 2004

JSE off lows in thin volumes

The JSE came off its lows by midday on Wednesday in what dealers described as a dull market charecterised by thin volumes. By midday the all share index was flat, while industrials lifted slightly. Resources dropped 0,51%, but the other indices managed small gains.

After opening slightly weaker on Wednesday, the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) was off its lows by midday in what dealers described as a dull market characterised by thin volumes.

By midday, the all share index was flat — off just 0,06% — while industrials were up 0,21%.

Resources declined 0,51%, but the other indices managed to eke out small gains. The financial and banks indices were up 0,25% and 0,76% respectively, while the gold mining index added 0,12% and the platinum mining index advanced 0,11%.

The rand was quoted at R6,11 per dollar from R6,09 when the JSE closed on Tuesday, while gold was quoted at $403,60 an ounce from $401,60/oz at the JSE’s last close.

Initially the JSE followed the lead of Asian markets, which were under pressure after United States chip maker Intel came out with earnings after hours.

The results were much as expected, but the company’s warning on margins had weighed on US futures.

A local trader said that the local bourse was off its lows, but there was a lack of liquidity. “There have been a couple of small buying programmes this morning, but all the action was seen yesterday,” he added.

Among the few features during Wednesday’s morning session were retailer Edcon, which jumped 410 cents, or 2,69%, to R156,60 after the company issued a trading update saying total sales for the first 14 weeks of this financial year have exceeded internal targets, rising 25% when compared with the same period last year.

Elsewhere, Anglo American plc was off 1,24%, or 160 cents, to R127,70, while BHP Billiton shed 37 cents to R56,15.

Among gold miners, GoldFields was up 5 cents to R61,60, but off its earlier high of R62,50, while Anglogold Ashanti advanced 112 cents to R205,00 and Harmony added seven cents to R67,50.

Among industrials, SABMiller was down seven cents to R78,50 and Imperial shed 79 cents, or 1,14%, to R68,70.

Gainers included Sasol, which was 50 cents better at R100,00, and Sappi which advanced 175 cents, or 1,87%, to R95,50.

Earlier in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 251,97 points or 2,17% at 11,356.65. The TOPIX index of all First Section issues closed down 14,98 points or 1,28% at 1,151.49.

AFX reported that in London leading shares remained lower in midmorning trade, unable to shake disappointing results overnight from US chipmaker Intel, while broker comment on ICI and UK listed miners added to the gloom, dealers said.

At midday, the FTSE 100 was down 29,2 points at 4,328.50, edging off a morning low of 4,325.9. — I-Net Bridge