JSE sets fresh record

Independent Newspapers

The JSE. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi.

The JSE stock market set fresh closing records on the all-share and Top-40 indices on Friday‚ underpinned by the resources sector‚ which benefited mainly from the rand weakness.

The upbeat US economic data added to the market buoyancy.

At 5pm‚ the JSE all-share index ended 0.88% firmer at 36‚588.67 points‚ while the Top-40 index rallied 1.11% at 32‚361.91.

The gold index jumped 3.15%‚ resources rose 2.53%‚ platinum counters added 2.97% but banks dropped 2.37%.

“The current divergence between the rally in equities and sell-off in the rand and bond markets may be short-lived. The rand weakness signals offshore investors are jittery about ongoing strikes in the mining sector and its attendant consequences on SA’s current account balance‚” said Gehard Lampen‚ head of Sanlam iTrade.

Shares in Anglo American Platinum (AMS) pared gains in late trade after the world’s no 1 platinum producer said it had fired 12‚000 of its illegal striking workers.

Elsewhere‚ European markets and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were firmer in late trade due to the upbeat US non-farm payroll report.

The September unemployment rate fell to 7.8% from 8.1% a month earlier‚ the Labor Department reported. Economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged. The US economy added 114‚000 jobs last month‚ shy of the 118‚000 median estimate of economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires. But the department revised its payrolls readings for July and August higher.

Among individual shares‚ BHP Billiton (BIL) jumped 2.44% to R270.43 and and Sasol (SOL) gained 3.28% to R382.20.

Impala Platinum (IMP) lifted 3.47% to R139.98‚ Northam Platinum (NHM) soared 6% to R30.90 and Lonmin (LON) collected 3.32% to R77.07.

AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) was up 4.06% to R296.17 and Gold Fields (GFI) was up 2.81% to R107.50.

Among industrials‚ British American Tobacco (BTI) rallied 2.20% to R464.88 and SABMiller (SAB) was up 2.39% at R385.

Among banks‚ Nedbank (NED) tumbled 5.02% to R175.05‚ and FirstRand (FSR) dropped 3.62% to R27.39.

Pick n Pay (PIK) sank 6.46% to R43.85 after profit warning‚ while Shoprite (SHP) lost 3.49% to R164.35. - I-Net Bridge