The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was flat at midday, with resources falling prey to profit-taking after their phenomenal run over the previous two days and banks bouncing from an oversold position. A weakening in the rand pared resources counters losses, dealers said.
At 12.05pm, the all-share and gold-mining indices were flat. The financial and banks indices firmed 0,65% and 1,04% respectively, while industrials climbed 0,21%. Resources retreated 0,7% and the platinum-mining index slipped 1,32%.
The rand was quoted at R6,07 per dollar from R6,04 when the JSE closed on Wednesday, while gold was quoted at $420,10 a troy ounce from $421,60/oz at the JSE’s last close.
A dealer said that the picture on the JSE was the opposite of the one seen on Wednesday and Tuesday.
“For two days, we saw aggressive gains in major resources stocks and expected to see a bit of a pullback and demand coming in for stocks, such as banks, that took the brunt of the selling,” she said.
She added that the rand had weakened a bit, which had helped some of the resources stocks come off their lows.
“Amplats and Anglo have been under the most pressure. De Beers sales missed forecasts and there has been some profit-taking in Anglo in London,” the dealer commented.
Anglo American (Anglo) holds a 45% stake in De Beers, which said on Thursday that its marketing arm Diamond Trading Company’s (DTC) full-year sales increased by 3% to a record $5,695-billion in 2004 from the 2003 year’s $5,518-billion, De Beers said on Thursday.
An I-Net Bridge survey of six analysts had put the DTC’s sales for 2004 at $5,96-billion, up 8%. For the half-year to June 2004, DTC sales were $2,983-billion.
Analysts’ forecasts ranged from $5,7-billion to $6,545-billion.
Anglo shares weakened 1,58% or R2,35 to R146,80, while BHP Billiton eased 48 cents to R77,30.
AngloPlat meanwhile slid 1,79% or four rand to R219 and Impala weakened 1,07% or R5,50 to R510.
Northam, however, added 1,69% or 14 cents to R8,40. Before the opening, the company reported a 39,6% decline in headline earnings per share to 27 cents for the six months ended December 31 2004 from 44,9 cents in the comparable period in the prior year.
An interim dividend of 25 cents per share was declared, compared with 45 cents per share in the prior year.
Petrochemicals group Sasol was R1,20 stronger at R125,50.
On the industrial index, services group Bidvest bounced 1,06% or 80 cents to R76,50. The group said after the close on Wednesday that it expects its headline earnings per share for the six months to the end of December to be 29% higher than those of the year-earlier period.
Telecoms group Telkom climbed 99 cents to R106 and steel producer Ispat Iscor was 26 cents stronger at R61,25.
Retailer Edcon rebounded 2,17% or six rand to R283.
Standard Bank was 1,71% or R1,05 in the black at R62,30 and FirstRand firmed 1,37% or 18 cents to R13,29.
Sanlam leaped 1,92% or 24 cents to R12,74.
Microlender Abil was up 1,47% or 25 cents at R17,25. The company said earlier that sales for the first three months of financial 2005, at R1,366-billion, were 15% higher than the R1,183-billion achieved in the equivalent three months of 2004 and 19% higher than the preceding quarter, in line with typical seasonal trends. — I-Net Bridge