Johannesburg - The JSE closed at a
fresh all-time high on Friday with banks and financials leading the
upside‚ while gold miners lost some steam due to profit taking.
Nedbank Group Limited [JSE:NED] reached
an all-time high‚ adding R4.74‚ or 2.59%‚to R188.03‚ along
with Firstrand Limited [JSE:FSR]‚ which gained R1.10‚ or 3.94%‚
to R29.00; Standard Bank Group [JSE:SBK] climbed R2.85‚ or 2.48%‚
to R117.95. Mmi Holding Limited [JSE:MMI] performed best of the
financial‚ gaining 65 cents‚ or 3.47% to R19.40.
“Our markets have seen good buying
over the last while‚ with the underlying trend very strong. The
all-share index has broken through a technical resistance level but
we are looking a bit stretched at the moment‚” said Ferdi
Heyneke‚ portfolio manager at Afrifocus.
At 17:00 local time‚ the JSE
all-share index was up 0.60% to 35‚244.22 points.
“We are following world markets
higher‚” added Heyneke.
European markets were sharply higher in
late trade on Friday‚ with the FTSE gaining over 2‚ while the Dow
Jones Industrial Average was last up 1.67%.
Markets were buoyed by better-than
expected US non-farm payroll data‚ showing that seasonally adjusted
jobs rose by 163‚000 in July. Economists were expecting an increase
of 95‚000. The unemployment rate‚ however‚ ticked up to 8.3%‚
versus expectations of 8.2%‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Meanwhile US stocks opened higher‚
after falling for four straight sessions‚ as domestic payrolls rose
much more than expected.
Among the losing gold shares were
AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG]‚ which shed R5.91‚ or 2.09‚ to
R277.50.
Coal of Africa Limited [JSE:CZA]
regained 23 cents‚ or 7.32%‚ to R3.37‚ after a couple of days
of big losses.