Positive sentiment towards equities took the JSE onto higher ground on Wednesday, with a lot of the buying coming from offshore. Platinum shares were under pressure, however, after the platinum price spiralled down to earth with a thud after rocketing to a record high on Tuesday.
By 12.07pm, the all share index added 0,58%. Industrials climbed 0,55%, financials firmed 0,47% and the banks index jumped 1,06%. The resources and gold mining indices gained 0,66% and 0,75% respectively, but the platinum mining index surrendered 1,86%.
The rand was bid at 7,16 per dollar from 7,25 when the JSE closed on Tuesday, while gold was quoted at $627,77 a troy ounce from $625,20/oz at the JSE’s last close. Platinum was quoted at $1 155/oz from $1 330/oz at the JSE’s last close. It traded above the $1 400/oz level for the first time on Tuesday.
“The market is looking strong. I think there is a lot of foreign buying coming in,” a dealer said. “You’ve also got companies like Massmart saying at an AGM that full year profits are likely to be better than sales up until now and that shows that the increase in interest rates and supposed slow down in the economy is not happening in that area.”
He continued that demand had been seen for industrials and financials across the board.
A second dealer said that the platinum price was one of the most interesting features.
“It’s down almost $200 from its level when we left yesterday. The rand is also a lot stronger.”
While platinum stocks were not down as much as the platinum price, they also didn’t reflect the metal’s full upside.
On the resources index, BHP Billiton bounced 1,95% or R2,59 to R135,10. Anglo American added R2,01 to R338,01.
Petrochemicals group Sasol was 1,11% or 2,77 cents stronger at R251,77.
AngloGold Ashanti advanced 1,24% or R4 to R326 and Harmony was 1,07% or R1,20 higher at R113,30.
Kumba Resources rose 1,62% or 85 cents at R53,45 and Kumba Iron Ore picked up 1,67% or R1,81 to R110,01.
AngloPlat, however, tumbled 2,15% or R17,50 to R797 and Impala lost 1,7% or R3 to R110,01.
Among industrials, Massmart, which earlier traded at an all-time high of R68,18, was 4,81% or R3,05 to the good at R66,50.
Massmart said on Wednesday that sales from continuing operations for the 21 weeks to 19 November grew 16,7% and comparable store sales grew 12,6%.
Sales before new stores opened in the current year were reported to have grown by 16%. The company added that only 1,2% of its sales constituted consumer credit.
“Although it can be expected that the tightening of monetary policy in response to gradually rising inflation will slow the extraordinary rate of retail sales growth, not all retailers will be affected equally,” Massmart’s outgoing CEO Mark Lamberti said in a statement at the 2006 annual general meeting.
He said that while it was difficult to predict the impact of rising interest rates on sales growth in the second half, Massmart remain confident that profits will grow at a much higher rate than sales for the full year.
Furniture retailer JD Group jumped 3% or R2,40 to R82,30. Lewis leaped 4,64% or R2,76 to R62,26
Woolies rang up 3,1% or 50 cents to R16,65 and Truworths rallied 2,72% or 79 cents to R29,80. It earlier touched a lifetime high of R29,95.
Cellular network operator MTN Group was 2,39% or R1,70 higher at R72,81, but Telkom weakened 1,67% or R2,25 to R132,75.
Services group Bidvest was bolstered 2,15% or R2,60 to R123,70 and brand management group Barloworld was 1,57% or R2,50 better at R148. Bidvest and Barloworld earlier traded at record highs of R124 and R148,65 respectively.
Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont, however, eased 21 cents to R38,94.
On the financial front, Sanlam strengthened 1,4% or 25 cents to R18,05.
Nedbank notched up 2,23% or R2,74 to R125,50, FirstRand firmed 1,18% or 23 cents to R19,78, Absa added 1,1% or R1,29 to R118,10 and Standard Bank climbed 60 cents to R88,50.
Specialist bank Investec was 1,52% or R1,25 in the black at R83,31 and Investec strengthened 1,27% or R1 to R80.
The counters on Wednesday reached new highs of R83 and R80,06 respectively.
London-listed real estate group Liberty International, however, dropped 4,13% or R8 to R185,50.
It said on Wednesday that it was to place up to 25-million new ordinary shares, representing up to 7,4% of its share capital. It also unveiled plans to convert the group into a real estate investment trust. – I-Net Bridge