/ 16 November 2007

JSE weakened by commodities

The JSE was slightly firmer at midday on Friday than it was during the morning session but it remained negative, as commodity stocks continued to be paralysed on the local bourse.

By noon, the JSE’s all-share index declined 0,72%, led by a 2,25% drop in the platinum mining index. The gold mining index and resources pulled back 1,59% and 0,64% respectively. Banks dropped 1,83% and financials lost 1,26%, while industrials were down 0,53%.

The rand was bid at R6,72 to the dollar from R6,69 when the JSE closed on Thursday, while gold was quoted at $790,60 a troy ounce from $794,90/oz at the JSE’s last close.

“The JSE is weaker, but if you looked at last night [overnight trade in the United States] you would expect a weaker performance. We had a bigger sell off yesterday [Thursday] afternoon, so that’s why we are only 0,74% lower,” said a local trader.

He added that the market is tough, and investors globally are concerned over subprime exposure. “There is also a redemption in commodities themselves, which is putting pressure on commodity stocks,” he said.

At midday in the JSE’s platinum sector, Anglo Platinum gave up R20,72, or 2,06%, to R987,26 and Impala Platinum slumped R5,80, or 2,42%, to R234,20.

Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti fell five rand, or 1,64%, to R300 and Harmony weakened R1,54, or 2,18%, to R69.

Resource stock Anglo American pulled back R4,52, or 1,03%, to R433,48, but BHP Billiton bucked the trend and climbed R2,50, or 1,14%, to R221,50. Sasol dropped R3,10 to R338,90.

In the bank and financial sector, Investec Ltd gave up R2,01, or 2,63%, to R74,49, FirstRand fell 85 cents, or 3,31%, to R24,85 and Standard Bank shed R1,01 to R110,99.

Fixed-line operator Telkom climbed R1,20 to R165,95, but mobile operator MTN Group was off R3,38, or 2,61%, at R126,15.

Investment group Hosken Consolidated Investments slumped R3,29, or 3,86%, to R82.

Packaging group Nampak perked up 49 cents, or 2,28%, to R21,99. It said on Friday that for the year ended September it expects its headline earnings and earnings per share to be 20% to 25% higher than those for the corresponding period a year ago.

Swiss luxury-goods group Richemont was 27 cents better at R43,58 and brewer SABMiller recovered 90 cents to R182,50, but Distell fell R2,43, or 3,74%, to R62,52. Richemont on Friday reported a 27% increase in diluted earnings per unit to €1,455 for the six months ended September from €1,141 for the same period a year ago.

In the media sector, Naspers weakened R5,97, or 3,08%, to R188,03 and Johncom eased 75 cents to R104,50. Johncom said on Friday that for the six months ended September, its attributable and headline earnings per share are expected to be between 455% and 465% higher than the comparative six-month period. — I-Net Bridge