Johannesburg - The JSE had a positive trading day‚ tracking international markets‚ which rallied after a eurozone deal that would help struggling banks was struck.
The rand was trading quite stronger at R8.18 today from R8.42 on Thursday and although the rand “has been our saving grace”‚ it was holding trading gains back‚ said Drikus Combrinck‚ portfolio manager at PSG Konsult.
“It looks like the risk-on environment will continue next week‚ but Kagiso PMI figures out next week might disappoint‚” said Drikus Combrinck‚ portfolio manager at PSG Konsult.
At 17:00 local time‚ the JSE All Share
[JSE:J203] index was up 1.37% at 33 708.31 points‚ with resources gaining 2.54%‚ while gold shares slid 0.62% and platinum counters added 3.31%.
Financials improved 0.86%‚ banking stocks were up 0.95% and industrials gained 0.93%.
The rand was firmer at 8.18 to the US dollar‚ from 8.43 at the JSE’s close on Thursday‚ while gold was quoted at $1 596.53 a troy ounce from $1 553.25/oz at the JSE’s previous close and platinum recovered to $1 425.70/oz‚ from $1 395.70/oz previously.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that energy shares led a broad-based rally in US stocks as European leaders' agreement to aid struggling banks eased fears about the region's debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 213 points‚ or 1.7%‚ to 12 816 in mid-morning trade‚ putting it on track for its biggest advance in three weeks. The gains came on the final day of a solidly down quarter for US stocks‚ largely due to a steep decline in May.
The Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 25 points‚ or 1.9% to 1 354 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 52 points‚ or 1.8%‚ to 2 901.
“It is a reminder of how little people expect coming out of any of these summits‚” said Andres Garcia-Amaya‚ global market strategist at JP Morgan Funds. “This begins the roadmap to creating a pan-European banking union by year end‚” he said. “It gets you closer to that integration that you want to see within Europe. So that's big‚ but it's just words for now. We need to see the details."
Meanwhile European shares soared as Spanish and Italian government bond yields fell. The Stoxx 600 Europe index advanced 2.7%‚ while Spain's IBEX 35 index gained 4.7%.
Asian stocks also bolted higher at the sight of the summit headlines with the Hang Seng adding 2.2%‚ while the Nikkei tacked on 1.5%.
The FTSE 100 traded higher‚ up 1.97% at 5 601‚ heading further up despite mixed US economic data. Miners lead the gains‚ with Evraz up 7.9% and Kazakhmys up 6.7%. On the downside‚ Barclays was off 0.8% as investors continued to absorb the Libor rate manipulation debacle. At 17:00 local time the FTSE 100 was up 1.97% at 5 601.