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Johannesburg - The JSE opened a touch firmer on Tuesday,
taking its direction from global stocks which were higher on better than
expected purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs) from various countries, including the
US and China.
At 09:20 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was
up 0.22% to 34 049.12 points, with industrials 0.32% higher and resources
adding 0.24%.
Gold shares fell 0.46%, while banks shed 0.14%. Platinum
miners were flat (-0.03%), and so were financials.
The rand was trading at R7.63 to the US dollar, from R7.64
at the JSE's close on Monday. Gold was quoted at $1 678.84 a troy ounce from $1
682.05/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 664/oz, from $1
654/oz from the previous session.
Ian Cruickshanks of Nedbank Capital said that there was
slightly stronger global risk appetite.
"Global PMI data that came out
supports a positive view on the manufacturing sector, so that's helpful.
Domestic PMI confirms there's still strong demand and that solid growth is
still evident," he said.
European stocks are expected to start just mildly higher on
Tuesday, taking a breather following strong gains in the US and Europe
following better than expected global manufacturing data.
The UK, US and China have all released PMI manufacturing data in recent days that have surprised to the upside, helping
equity markets to start the second quarter of 2012 on a strong footing.
In addition, eurozone economic data continue to lag behind
other global peers and concerns about the region's sovereign debt have not
disappeared.
Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were mostly higher on Tuesday, with resource plays outperforming on several bourses, as investors took some encouragement from the better than expected manufacturing data in the US.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2% and South Korea's
Kospi Composite gained 0.9%, but Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6%. Hong
Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%, while Taiwan's Taiex lost 1.3%. Chinese
markets were closed for a public holiday.
