The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa forged ahead in early trade on Wednesday, following Wall Street’s strong performance overnight and a stronger opening on European markets. Continued weakness in the rand added to the positive picture.
By 09h15, the all share and all share industrial indices were both up 0,77%.
Resources rallied 0,95%, the gold mining index gained 1,08% and the platinum mining index jumped 1,08%. Financials firmed 0,46%, while the banks index was 0,17% in the black.
The rand was quoted at 6,33 per dollar, little changed from when the JSE closed on Tuesday, but ten cents weaker than when the bourse closed on Monday, while gold was quoted at $387,50 an ounce from $387.30/oz at the JSE’s last close.
“We’ve had a good start in line with American markets closing firmer overnight. Europe has also opened up and Japan was up nicely, so world markets are all looking pretty strong,” a dealer said.
He added that the rand was still relatively weak above the 6,30 per dollar level, which was also helping sentiment. The rand broke above 6,30 on Tuesday afternoon for the first time this month.
The dealer said that the market would also be watching consumer inflation numbers due out at on Wednesday.
South Africa’s consumer price index excluding mortgage changes (CPIX), which is used by the SARB for its inflation target, is expected to increase to 5,5% year-on-year (y/y) after remaining at 4,4% y/y for the previous three months, according to a survey of economists conducted by I- Net Bridge.
In early trade, London-listed diversified resources group Anglo American added 95 cents to R128,80 and BHP Billiton was 1,28% or 71 cents better at R56,01.
Gold miner Harmony soared 2,33% or R1,49 to R65,50, AngloGold Ashanti climbed 70 cents to R194 and Gold Fields firmed 21 cents to R59,05.
AngloPlat added 1,07% or R2,50 to R236,50 and Impala Platinum leaped 1,02% or five rand to R495.
Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont rose 1,1% or 18 cents to R16,53 and services group Bidvest surged 1,85% or one rand to R54,95.
Brand management group Barloworld jumped 1,03% or 70 cents to R68,90 and London-listed brewer SABMiller was 44 cents stronger at R81,25.
Steel producer Iscor was bolstered 2,01% or 75 cents to R38 and food group Tiger Brands forged ahead 1,22% or R1,07 to R88,87.
Cellular network operator MTN Group was up 1,57% or 43 cents at R45,50, while Telkom gained 69 cents to R80,39.
On the financial index, investment company Remgro rocketed 2,61% or R2,01 to R79.
London-listed Old Mutual firmed 1,01% or 12 cents to R12 and niche banking group Investec improved 1,71% or two rand to R119.
Banking group FirstRand inched up five cents to R10,15, but Standard Bank shed 23 cents to R43,40.
AFX reports that blue chip stocks posted their biggest one-day gain in nearly two months on Tuesday as stocks staged a powerful rally amid good earnings news and a two-year-high in consumer confidence.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 123,22 points, or 1,2%, at 10 085,14, its biggest one-day gain since June 7 when it advanced 149 points.
The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped by 30,08 points, or 1,6%, to 1 869,10 and the S&P 500 rose 10,76 points, or 1%, to 1 094,83. -I-Net Bridge