The JSE remained in positive territory in noon trade on Thursday, helped by world markets and higher commodity prices. The bourse so far proved quite resilient in the face of far-worse-than-expected producer price index (PPI) data released at 11.30am.
By 12.16pm, the all-share index added 0,6%. Resources rose 0,67%, the gold-mining index gained 1% and the platinum-mining index jumped 1,97%. Industrials climbed 0,37%, while the financial and banks indices firmed 0,95% and 1,06% respectively.
The rand was bid at 6,88 per dollar from 6,99 when the JSE closed on Wednesday, while gold was quoted at $633,50 a troy ounce from $618,10/oz at the JSE’s last close.
“We had PPI out which was a bit of a shocker. It came out at 7,5% when the market was expecting 6,3%. The banks shares have been running a bit on rand strength and with PPI coming out we expected the market to come under a bit of pressure, but it has held up better than we expected. Maybe we will get a bit of a surprise when the [United] States comes in,” a dealer commented.
She added that the higher gold prices were helping the market.
Overall, markets in Asia had been up quite strongly, Europe was firmer and the JSE was just following the trend.
South Africa’s PPI rose by 7,5% year-on-year (y/y) in June from a 5,9% y/y increase in May, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Thursday.
The PPI rose 3,0% on a monthly basis after May’s monthly rise of 0,9%.
The PPI was expected to have risen to 6,3% y/y, a survey of economists by I-Net Bridge found, with forecasts ranging from 5,1% y/y to 6,5% y/y.
Stats SA said the main pressure came from agriculture, where local prices rose to 21,3% y/y in June from 17,3% y/y in May and 15,5% y/y in April.
On the JSE’s resources index, London-listed Anglo American was up R2,31 at R280 and BHP Billiton was 50c better at R133.
AngloPlat strengthened 2,39% or R16 to R686 and Impala leaped 1,67% or R20 to R1Â 220.
Harmony Gold was 1,06% or R1,07 higher at R101,56, Gold Fields gained R1,26 to R145,76 and AngloGold Ashanti added R3,10 to R338.
Before the opening, AngloGold Ashanti reported a 67% increase in adjusted headline earnings per share (Heps) to 334c in the June quarter from 200c in the March quarter.
The median of eight analysts surveyed by I-Net Bridge had expected adjusted Heps of 367c. Forecasts ranged from 300c to 449c.
The improved earnings were due to higher production, higher received prices and lower costs, which resulted in an improved financial performance for the June quarter, AngloGold Ashanti said.
The group declared an interim dividend per share of 210c, up 24% from 170c in the previous comparative period.
Analysts had expected an interim dividend of 236c, with forecasts ranging from 62c to 300c.
During the June quarter, AngloGold Ashanti generated gold production of 1,415-million troy ounces, up 6% from 1,340-million oz in the March quarter.
At its March quarter result, the miner estimated its June quarter output at 1,483-million oz.
On the industrial market, Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont rallied 1,14% or 35c to R31.
Telecoms group Telkom rang up 1,74% or R2,20 to R129 and cellular network operator MTN Group gathered 1,03% or 55c to R54,15.
Media group Naspers notched up 1,04% or R1,21 to R117,61.
Transport and logistics group Imperial climbed 90c to R135,40.
Decliners included London-listed brewer SABMiller, which eased 52c to R132,08.
Food group AVI fell 11c to R14,69, while Tiger Brands weakened R1,38 to R155,50.
Retailer Woolies weakened 1,82% or 25c to R13,45.
On the financial front, London-listed Old Mutual leaped 1,83% or 37c to R20,57.
Banking group FirstRand rose 1,2% or 20c to R16,90. Absa advanced 99c to R100,99, Standard Bank strengthened 45c to R73,95 and Nedbank was 69c in the black at R110,40.
London-listed real estate group Liberty International was up R1 at R148,50. It earlier reported basic earnings per share of 104,7 pence for the six months ended June from 28,8 pence a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share — for valuation and exceptional items and their tax effect in accordance with United Kingdom property industry practice — were 14 pence from 13,3 pence.
An interim dividend of 13,75 pence per share was declared from 13 pence a year ago. — I-Net Bridge