Johannesburg - The JSE closed firmer on
Thursday picking up momentum near the close‚ with gold miners and
resources leading the upside.
“The JSE was picking up momentum as
we were getting into the close on the back of much better economic
data out of US‚” said David Shapiro‚ director at Sasfin
Securities.
“There was an overall better feel to
the market today and it was not a bad trading day at all‚” he
added.
“The dollar picked up and therefore
the rand weakened a bit‚ which has an impact on our resources. Even
though the market was driven by resources‚ there was a solid
underpin by industrials. We have seen our retailers down for no
particular reason apart from them having had a strong run lately‚”
he said.
At 17:00 the JSE all-share index was up
0.56% at 35 743.23 points‚ with the gains in the resource and gold
sectors‚ up 1.26% and 2.22% respectively.
At 16:48 the Dow Jones Industrial index
was up 0.27% at 13 200.81 points after the Federal Reserve Bank of
Philadelphia reported its business index at -7.1‚ better than the
-12.9 reading in July but below the expectation of -6.5.
Also the number of US workers filing
applications for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 366
000‚ a fraction worse than estimates of 365 000. However‚ the
overall trend for claims suggested the labour market was improving‚
Dow Jones Newswires reported. Meanwhile US home building slipped in
July after a strong gain in June while new permits rose to their
highest level in four years‚ a possible sign of confidence for
construction going forward.
Among local resources and gold counters
that showed gains were Anglo American [JSE:AGL] adding R2.62‚ or
1.04%‚ to R254.44‚ BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] gaining R3.72‚ or
1.49%‚ to R254.18 and Anglogold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] adding R7.67‚
or 2.76%‚ to R285.77. ArcelorMittal [JSE:ACL] grew 89 cents‚ or
2.00%‚ to R45.50 and Kumba Iron Ore [JSE:KIO] was up R6.99‚ or
1.31%‚ to R541.99.
Among the companies in focus‚ miner
Lonmin [JSE:LON] closed R6.63‚ or 7.34%‚ lower at R83.70. An
attempt by the police on Thursday to disperse striking workers at
Lonmin’s troubled Marikana mine ended in a shootout between the two
groups. A Sapa reporter at the scene said he counted 18 bodies lying
next to the nearby Wonderkop squatter camp. The shooting lasted about
three minutes.
Media group Avusa [JSE:AVU] was up
R1.30‚ or 6.05%‚ to R22.80. Times Media Group's (TMG) bid for
Avusa was successful after shareholders voted in favour of the deal
on Thursday morning.
Cipla Medpro’s [JSE:CMP] share price
was down 48 cents‚ or 5.80%‚ to R7.80. SA’s third biggest
generic drug company still remained tight-lipped about the reasons
for the suspension of its CEO Jerome Smith.
Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] lost R2.76‚
or 2.38%‚ to R113.43. The bank reported an 11% increase in headline
earnings per share to R73.84 in the six months ended June 2012‚
from R66.37 a year ago.
Electrical wholesaler ARB Holdings
[JSE:ARH] added 8 cents‚ or 1.90%‚ to R4.30. The company said its
headline earnings per share were up 12%‚ with the group saying it
remained geared‚ holding R180m in cash resources.