The JSE retained its strong tone at noon on Monday, riding on the back of calmer overseas markets — but traders refrained from pushing too high ahead of Wall Street opening.
At 12.01pm, the all-share index was up 1,59%. Resources gained 1,87% and the gold- and platinum-mining indices climbed 2,05% and 2,45% respectively. Industrials added 1,30%, financials were up 1,55% and banks firmed 1,61%.
The rand was bid at 7,17 to the United States dollar from 7,22 when the JSE closed on Friday, while gold was quoted at $667,10 a troy ounce from $662,30/oz at the JSE’s last close.
“I see we look a lot more stable. Asia was up nicely and Europe followed suite after Wall Street’s advance on Friday,” one trader said.
He added that traders seemed a little hesitant “to push through the roof” as US stock futures gave conflicting signals regarding Wall Street’s outlook.
Dow Jones Newswires reports that US stock futures edged lower on Monday ahead of the latest round of housing data and as investors eyed acquisitions by US Steel Corporation and Chicago Bridge & Iron Company and the sale of Gateway to Taiwan’s Acer.
Local gold miner Harmony was among the blue chips’ top gainers after saying it will not sell its gold assets and that it would name a new CEO in six months, the trader said.
Shares in the company rose 4,41%, or R2,81, to R66,50.
Other gold miners also advanced, but not as much. AngloGold Ashanti was up 1,90%, or R5,14, to R275,90 and Gold Fields added 1,35%, or R1,44, to R107,99.
Boosted by higher copper prices, London-listed resource giant Anglo American climbed 2,05%, or R8,20, to R409 and rival BHP Billiton gained 1,72%, or R3,42, to R202,25.
Steel maker Mittal Steel, which began trading ex-dividend on the day, fell 8,60%, or R11,10, to R118.
Among platinum stocks, Anglo Platinum surged 2,35%, or R21,07, to R918,07 and Impala Platinum climbed 2,78%, or R5,10, to R188,50.
Elsewhere, business support services group Bidvest gained 1,40%, or R1,94, to R140,44. It reported a 21% increase in headline earnings per share to 970 cents for the year ended June from 804,6 cents a year ago. Diluted HEPS were up 23,2% to 947,2 cents from 769,1 cents before. — I-Net Bridge