The JSE was a touch higher at noon on Tuesday as platinum and banking stocks held sway.
At noon, the all-share index was up 0,15%. Resources lost 0,14%, the gold mining index was down 1,45% but the platinum mining index gained 2,08%. Industrials improved 0,25%, financials added 0,59% and banks climbed 1,38%.
The rand was bid at 7,08 to the US dollar from 7,09 when the JSE closed on Monday, while gold was quoted at $654,95 a troy ounce from $656,25 at the
JSE’s last close.
“There’s really no impetus to push high or low — gold is stable, European markets are flat and Asia ended practically unchanged,” said Andrew Todd, a trader at BoE Stockbrokers.
But traders said overall trading would be bumpy ahead of the futures closeout on Thursday, with some players hoping for a strong closeout while others were expected to take a breather.
Platinum group Anglo Platinum was up 2,09%, or R26, to R1 271 and Impala Platinum climbed 2,14%, or R5, to R239.
Banking group Firstrand was one of the top gainers among blue chip stocks amid news that it would buy the loan book of state-owned transport utility Transnet for R1,4-billion.
Shares in the company were up 2,10%, or 49 cents, at R23,80.
Other banking stocks edged higher with Nedbank adding R1,30 to R146,70 and Standard Bank firming 1,40%, or R1,49, to R107,60.
On the resources index Anglo American was off 1,13%, or R5, to R438 but BHP Billiton strengthened R1 to R192,50.
Among gold counters, Anglogold Ashanti fell 2,18%, or R6,35, to R284,65 and Gold Fields was off 1,68%, or R1,94, to R113,81.
Brewer SABMiller gave up 34 cents to R180 while services group Bidvest picked up 99 cents to R143.
Furniture group Steinhoff (SHF) soared 6,15%, or R1,40, to R24,15 but Lewis was off 30 cents to R64,70. – I-Net Bridge