The JSE was virtually unchanged at noon on Thursday as investors juggled a sharp retreat in commodity prices and the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s record-breaking performance overnight.
At noon, the all-share index was up just 0,07%. Resources gained 0,21%, the platinum mining index edged up 0,15% but the gold mining index gave up 0,08%.
Industrials shed 0,13%, banks were off 0,07% while financials improved 0,24%.
The rand was bid at 6,96 per dollar, unchanged from when the JSE closed on Wednesday, while gold was quoted at $662,80 a troy ounce, from $666,25 at the
JSE’s last close.
“We had a decent opening, building up on the Dow’s strong showing last night but the lower copper and gold prices are weighing on the market,” said Makwe Masilela, a trader at BP Bernstein Stockbrokers.
He added that the slightly weaker rand was failing to provide a buying incentive for diversified resource stocks due to lower commodity prices.
Global brewer SABMiller shed 38 cents to R162.
It earlier reported adjusted headline earnings per share of 847,1 cents for the year ended in March, up 21% from the previous year’s 699,2 cents. This amounted to 120 US cents from 109,1 cents before.
Brokerage house BJM says the results were above investors’ expectations.
Investec Limited was down 91 cents to R96,80 and Investec lost 1,17%, or R1,20, to R101,20.
Investec earlier reported a 27,2% increase in adjusted earnings per share to 53,3 pence for the year ended March from 41,9 pence the year before.
On the resources index, Anglo American added 94 cents to R394,69 and BHP Billiton strengthened 74 cents to R165,99.
Gold miner Anglogold Ashanti edged up 50 cents to R297,50, but Harmony eased 95 cents to R104,05.
Leading platinum stocks rose, with Anglo Platinum adding R5,90 to R1 175,90 and Impala firming 50 cents to R224,50. However, Eland Platinum dropped 3%, or R3,50, to R113. It said late on Wednesday that its loss and headline loss for the 15 months to end-March is expected to be 48 to 55 cents per share.
Elsewhere, retail group Spar surged 4,22%, or R2,10, to R51,90. Late on Wednesday, it reported a 28,5% leap in headline earnings per share from 121,7 cents to 156,3 cents for the six months ended in March.
Media group Naspers climbed 3,06%, or R5,50, to R185 after saying that it will delist from the Nasdaq and apply for a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange. – I-Net Bridge