Gold miners push JSE higher

Johannesburg - The JSE opened in positive territory on Thursday, supported by gold miners who rose on the back of a small rebound in commodities.

By 09:15 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was 0.39% higher, with gold miners rising 1.41%, resources up 0.64% and platinum miners gaining 0.53%. Industrials were 0.39% higher.

Banks were down 0.27%, while financials eased 0.16%.

The rand was bid at R6.63 to the dollar, unchanged from the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1 519.83 a troy ounce from $1 525.51/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 819/oz, from $1 823.50/oz previously.

A local trader said markets were performing better after "two days of hard selling".

Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian stock markets were mixed on Thursday, with retailers' stocks in Sydney weighed by an unexpected fall in retail sales for March, while many investors were cautious amid the decline in commodities and a general reduction in risk appetite.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1%, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% and Philippine shares fell 1.2%. Markets in Japan, South Korea and Thailand were shut for public holidays.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 45 points higher in screen trade.

A sharp sell-off in silver prices also spooked commodity investors, heightened risk aversion and sent commodity-linked currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars lower.

"Commodities have been the story over the past couple sessions...there's certainly no one just quite ready to stand in front of this (commodities sell-off)," said Michael Turner, a Sydney-based strategist with RBC Capital Markets.

Investors were also cautious ahead of the European Central Bank policy meeting later in the global day and Friday's US nonfarm payrolls data.