Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The JSE was in negative territory in early Friday trade with only the gold index providing support after shedding value on Thursday‚ as global investors await the most likely main market-moving event on Friday‚ the release of the US March nonfarm payroll and unemployment data due this afternoon‚ with disappointing prints expected.
At 9:46‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was 0.31% softer at 38 945.29 points‚ with the blue-chip Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index giving back 0.39%.
The gold gauge jumped 1.99%‚ while general retailers and platinums made the biggest losses‚ slipping 0.79% and 0.46% respectively.
Earlier data releases this week indicated that job growth in the US‚ which has been one of the few bright spots in the world economy‚ has begun to lose some of its steam‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
On Wednesday the private-payrolls processor ADP reported that private-sector jobs in the US grew by 158‚000 in March‚ below expectations of 215 000.
Also the weekly US jobless claims reported on Thursday were worse than expected by a clear margin.
Meanwhile Asian markets were mostly lower on Friday though Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average soared to a fresh multiyear high as investors cheered the Bank of Japan's latest monetary easing measures. The Nikkei closed up 1.58%‚ while at 9:31 local time Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 2.57%.
US futures are slightly lower on Friday‚ after the aggressive new stimulus measures from Japan’s central bank helped pull stocks higher and offset a downbeat report from the US labour market on Thursday.
On the JSE‚ Harmony (HAR) leapt 3.19% to R55.35‚ Sibanye (SGL) added 2.89% to R12.80‚ Gold Fields (GFI) was up 2.24% at R65.60 and AngloGold Ashanti gained 1.51% to R203.56.
In platinums Aquarius (AQP) slipped 1.81% to R5.97 and Jubilee (JBL) gave up 2.61% to R1.12.
Exxaro (EXX) was down 1.29% to R153.
Retailers Truworths (TRU) shed 1.92% to R87.64‚ Pick n Pay (PIK) was down 1% at R41.50‚ while the JD Group (JDG) bucked the trend‚ lifting 1.45% to R35.
Among financials Sanlam (SLM) was off 1.08% to R45.78.
Aveng (AEG) fared best in the construction sector‚ adding 1.29% to R31.30.
