After opening weaker on Thursday, the JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was off its lows at midday, with some interest in gold miners, which were up more than 1%.
By noon, the all-share index had shed 0,15%, while industrials were off 0,46%.
Resources were flat — up 0,05% — while the gold-mining index advanced 1,28% and the platinum-mining index was off 0,16%. Financials were unchanged and the banks index was up 0,06%.
The rand was quoted at R6,08 per dollar from R6,01 when the JSE closed on Wednesday, while gold was quoted at $422,20 a troy ounce from $425,35/oz at the JSE’s last close.
Dealers said there was still some weakness, but that certain stocks were benefiting from “bottom fishing”. Gold counters, which have been under pressure recently, were showing a slight recovery.
Among industrials, SABMiller was off 222 cents to R91,50, while Bidvest was off 45 cents to R74,05. However, Sasol was up 48 cents to R122,99.
AFX reports that in London, SABMiller was the worst-performing blue-chip stock following a report in Thursday’s Financial Times claiming the group is in pole position to take control of Columbia drinks company Grupo Empresarial Bavaria.
The Financial Times claimed such a deal, which may be announced within days, could be worth up to $9-billion.
Analysts said a deal is highly possible but they expressed surprise over the reported cost of $9-billion, arguing it is unlikely SABMiller could fund the acquisition on current cash levels.
Shares in SABMiller fell 22 pence to 808-1/2, AFX said.
On the resources index, London-listed Anglo American eased 15 cents to R139,20 and BHP Billiton was 26 cents softer at R70,75.
Kumba was down 20 cents to R54.
Among gold counters, AngloGold Ashanti was up 167 cents to R198,70, Gold Fields advanced 106 cents to R70,56 and Harmony was 70 cents better at R52,60.
Among platinum miners, AngloPlat was down 175 cents to R219 and Impala slipped R2,99 to R503, but both were off earlier lows of R213,50 and R496 respectively.
London-listed financial services group Old Mutual was down five cents to R14,37, but was off its earlier low of R14,10.
Standard Bank added 10 cents to R59,20 and Nedcor was 90 cents in the red at R70,10.
Shares in sugar producer Illovo were down 60 cents, or 6,98%, to 800 cents after the group said that it expects its headline earnings and earnings per share for the year ending March 31 2005 to be between 50% and 60% lower than the previous year.
Shares in Tongaat Hullett were up 30 cents to R57,30 after the company said it expects its headline earnings for the year ended December 31 2004 to be between R205-million and R218-million, representing a substantial recovery from the loss of R93-million in 2003.
This equates to an expected headline earnings per share of between 201,5 cents and 214,3 cents per share, compared with a headline loss of 91,7 cents per share previously. Earnings per share of between 211,4 cents and 224,1 cents per share are expected, the group added.
AFX reports that the FTSE 100 remained under pressure in midmorning deals hit by a raft of disappointing earnings news in the United States and a slide in the shares of SABMiller, dealers said.
At midday South African time, the FTSE was down 26 points, or 0,54%. — I-Net Bridge