The JSE was hovering at tight levels at midday on Tuesday with the all-share a tad lower (-0,17%) and nervousness in the market adding to some profit-taking as the local bourse awaited data to be released this week in the hope of gaining some direction.
At 12pm, the all-share index was 0,17% lower. Resources eased 0,44%, the gold-mining index lost 0,59% while the platinum-mining index was 0,18% better. Industrials were flat (0,04%) as were financials (-0,04%) while banks gained 0,31%.
The rand was bid at 6,81 to the United States dollar from 6,80 when the JSE closed on Monday, while gold was quoted at $683,50 a troy ounce from $683,20 at the JSE’s last close.
“With the JSE hovering at these levels and trading in a tight range, there is an increased nervousness in the market,” a Johannesburg-based trader said.
He added that there was profit-taking as there was an increase in uncertainty, and the local market will be waiting for Wednesday’s consumer price inflation data to give it some direction.
However, the trader said that offshore markets like Asia were slightly up after a weak open, the European markets were mixed, and the Dow was not rallying, so the local bourse seemed to be sitting around the same levels.
At 12pm, gold miner AngloGold Ashanti weakened 0,64% to R308,50, Harmony was 90 cents lower at R102,60 and Gold Fields was down 0,33% to R122.
On the resource index, Anglo American slipped R5 to R450 and BHP Billiton climbed 0,25 rand to R211,26.
Diversified miner BHP Billiton reported on Tuesday that petroleum exploration expenditure for the twelve months ended June 30 2007 was $477-million. The company said the amount expensed was $334-million, which includes $82-million of exploration expenditure capitalised in prior years.
Anglo Platinum gained R8,74 to R1 100 and Impala Platinum shed 25 cents to R226,75, while Lonmin tumbled R9,09 to R513,40. Aquarius soared 2,79%, or R6, to R221.
Aquarius Platinum reported on Tuesday that while the rehiring process was continuing after the recent industrial action, it had lost an anticipated 4 700 ounces of production as a result of the labour problems.
Specialist chemicals company AECI weakened 1,57% to R78,50. It reported a decrease in diluted headline earnings per share for the six-months to June to 245 cents from 372 cents in the year-earlier period.
Aluminium group Hulamin eased to R25. Africa’s largest aluminium processor, Hulamin reported on Tuesday a diluted headline loss per share of 33 cents for the six months to June 30 2007 from 61 cents earnings in the year-earlier period. The headline loss was R70,2-million from R127,5-million in earnings a year earlier.
Sasol pulled back R1,99 to R286,01 and giant brewer SABMiller lost 73 cents to R186,05.
Nedbank slipped R2 to R141,75; Standard Bank was 57 cents lower at R110,10 and FirstRand gained 1,19% to R24,60.
Telkom collected 15 cents to R172,96 and MTN Group strengthened 1,28% to R106,60.
Media groups Primedia-N and Naspers-N climbed 1,26% and 0,59% to R24,85 and R180,05 respectively. — I-Net Bridge