The JSE lost a little ground in range-bound trade by midday, with traders becoming a little more hesitant to dive in ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting this week.
By 12.24pm, the all share index was up 0,17%, with platinum leading the way
with a gain of 0,77% and industrials adding 0,21%. Resources were up by 0,19%, but gold receded by 0,71%. Banks were off by 0,44%, while financials gained 0,06%.
The rand was bid at 7,79 per dollar from 7,83 when the JSE closed on Friday, while gold was quoted $575,43 a troy ounce from $576,05/oz at the JSE’s last close.
“After a good start initially on oil, gold and the weaker rand we have pulled back a little now,” said Rigardt Maartens, portfolio manager and equity dealer from PSG Online.
“The rand strength has pulled us back a little bit. Sasol was flying earlier and is now off its highs. The stock has been trading on the oil price and it was very positive as it gained yesterday even after going ex dividend,” he said.
“There is some slack in the market at the moment and players are looking before they buy. We’ve had a good run and now we need to wait for the MPC on Thursday,” concluded Maartens.
Sasol, which was trading at R248,90 in early morning trade, pulled back to R248,50 (which is still a gain of 2,49% for the day), while BHP Billiton reversed from an earlier gain of R1,28 to a loss of 28 cents to R137,11 by midday.
Benchmark stock Anglo American, however, found some support during the session and improved from a 50 cent gain in the morning to a leap of R1 by midday to R334.
Among gold counters AngloGold Ashanti was down R4 to R291.
AngloPlat added 700 cents to R822 and Impala Platinum was up R8 to R1 289.
On the industrial front partial rand hedge counter Bidvest collected R1,35 to R119,65 while SAB gave back R1,13 to R145,30.
Media group Naspers continued its good run to add another R4.,5 to R126,15.
Technology group Allied Electronic Corporation Limited on Tuesday reported a 43% increase in fully diluted headline earnings per share from 76 cents to 109 cents for the six months ended August. The share price was unchanged at R29.
Banks were mainly slightly weaker, but London-listed Old Mutual added 22 cents to R24,61.
The SARB’s MPC meets on Wednesday and Thursday with the decision on interest rates expected shortly after 3.30pm on Thursday. – I-Net Bridge