After starting firmer, the JSE drifted weaker during the course of Friday morning’s session, but was just barely hanging on to positive territory just after midday on Friday.
By 12.25pm, the all-share index was up 0,03% — or just eight points. The resources index was 0,20% higher and the gold mining index was ahead 0,21%.
Industrials were down 0,08%, financials were up 0,02% and banks were 0,17% better.
The platinum mining index was off 0,38% after the rebasing of the index.
The rand was bid at 7,29 per dollar from 7,31 when the JSE closed on Thursday, while gold was quoted at $663,02 a troy ounce, down sharply from $670,95/oz at the JSE’s last close and compared with its overnight close of $663,90/oz.
A local equities trader said the market was difficult to call and was very confusing and it was also very volatile.
“This is the second day in a row that we started strongly but have fallen back, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest why. It seems whatever you do, you are on a hiding to nothing today,” the trader added.
He suggested that perhaps it was time to take a step back and wait for the dust to settle.
AFX reported that UK blue chips were lower midmorning as a recovery by heavyweight mining stocks proved short-lived with copper and gold prices falling back. On the downside, a recovery by heavyweight miners today proved short-lived as mixed performances from commodity prices failed to offer support amid ongoing concerns over growth prospects in China and the US.
Xstrata, from being a good gainer, topped the FTSE 100 fallers list, losing 47 pence at 2 290, while Rio Tinto shed 37 pence at 2 654, Lonmin dropped 43 pence at 3 020, and BHP Billiton slipped 11 pence lower to 996.
On the JSE, London-listed diversified resources group Anglo American was up R2,85 to R339,85, after touching R342 earlier, while BHP Billiton was 28 cents up at R142,34 after trading as high as R145,50.
Sasol was off R1,75 to R226,25.
Among gold miners, AngloGold Ashanti climbed R3,66 to R315,67, but Harmony Gold shed 69 cents to R98,51 and Gold Fields shed six cents to R124.
Impala Platinum shed 99 cents to R199,01, while Angloplat was off R6,01 to R969,99 after reaching R995 earlier.
Among industrials, Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont was off seven cents to R39,10, but London-listed brewer SABMiller added 68 cents to R160,25. Imperial garnered 101 cents to R157,01, while Naspers jumped R3,55 to R172,05.
On the financial front, Old Mutual was five cents down at R24,38, while Sanlam strengthened five cents to R18,75.
Liberty Group gained 1,92% or 150 cents to R79,60. Earlier the company reported a 34% increase in black economic empowerment (BEE) normalised headline earnings per share to 930,2 cents for the year ended December 2006 from 694,8 cents a year ago.
A final dividend of 230 cents per share was declared, up from 224 cents a year ago, making a total dividend of 370 cents — up from 350 cents a year earlier.
Among banks, Standard Bank perked up 1,03% or R1,01 to R99,01, Absa added 50 cents to R135, but FirstRand was off 26 cents to R22,90.
In Tokyo on Friday morning, share prices closed sharply lower on the uncertain outlook for stock markets worldwide and with the yen’s sharp rise also hurting sentiment, particularly towards export-oriented stocks, dealers said.
The blue-chip Nikkei index dropped for the fourth straight session and was down 5,3% this week, with dealers saying it may retreat closer to the 17 000 mark next week.
Recent slides in stocks worldwide have apparently put many offshore hedge funds under pressure to unwind positions on the Nikkei, they said.
But many local investors remain relatively optimistic about the Japanese market’s upside potential, believing the recent turmoil does not necessarily signal that the global economy is about to take a sharp downturn, they added.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed down 235,58 points or 1,35% at 17 217,93, off a low of 17 160,43. – I-Net Bridge