Johannesburg - The JSE is on the march again...
On Thursday morning the major indices, which set new records on Wednesday, were in record territory again.
The indices were initially slightly lower because of some profit taking after yesterday’s strong performance, but by midday the All-share index was 0.26% higher on 49 762 points and the Top 40-index gained 0.32% to 44 669 points. At the beginning of the week it looked as if the All-share index was battling to consolidate above 49 000 and now the magic 50 000 mark is in its sights.
The market was mainly pushed higher by the Industrial index which was 0.61% higher on 56 807 points, but this time it was not Naspers [JSE:NPN] which took the market higher. Heavyweights like Remgro [JSE:REM], Sappi [JSE:SAP] and Altron [JSE:ATN] all traded on new 52-week highs this morning, after taking a breather at the end of last week.
The Resources sector traded in the red for most of the day, but turned positive just before midday and was only 0.03% higher on 57 765 points.
Naspers, which rose more than 10% on Wednesday after the news that Tencent, its Chinese internet subsidiary, increased its profit for the first quarter with 60%, was by midday 0.87% lower than the previous session's close at R1 179.00. Tencent’s share price jumped with more than 5% in Hong Kong on Thursday.
One of the most active shares in morning trade was Richemont [JSE:RCH] which strengthened with 4.6% to R106.00 and the share, one the most popular rand hedges on the JSE, is not far away from its previous 52-week high of R109.37 set in February this year.
Its stablemate, Remgro, was at another record level this morning after gaining 1.56% to R216.87. Remgro is still trading at a relatively low price earnings ratio, compared to some of the other heavyweights.
Another company in the Remgro stable that is trading close to record levels is Medi-Clinic International [JSE:MDC] which traded 0.34% higher at R77.30, after setting a record of R78.39 last week on the back of a strong trade announcement.
Medi-Clinic’s competitor Netcare [JSE:NTC], which set a record of R26.20 on Wednesday, was 0.73% lower on R26.01.
Two companies who announced strong results this week are also on record levels. Altron traded for the second day on a 52-week high after announcing yesterday that headline earnings per share for the first half on the year was 42% higher after the company exited from its loss making operations in Africa. The share was another 1.02% higher on R25.76.
Sappi was 2.03% higher at a new record of R37.75 after announcing a net income of $32m for the three months through March, compared with a restated $2m a year ago. The company also sees a return to full-year profit as cost cuts and a move away from lower-margin paper boosted performance.
On Thursday morning the major indices, which set new records on Wednesday, were in record territory again.
The indices were initially slightly lower because of some profit taking after yesterday’s strong performance, but by midday the All-share index was 0.26% higher on 49 762 points and the Top 40-index gained 0.32% to 44 669 points. At the beginning of the week it looked as if the All-share index was battling to consolidate above 49 000 and now the magic 50 000 mark is in its sights.
The market was mainly pushed higher by the Industrial index which was 0.61% higher on 56 807 points, but this time it was not Naspers [JSE:NPN] which took the market higher. Heavyweights like Remgro [JSE:REM], Sappi [JSE:SAP] and Altron [JSE:ATN] all traded on new 52-week highs this morning, after taking a breather at the end of last week.
The Resources sector traded in the red for most of the day, but turned positive just before midday and was only 0.03% higher on 57 765 points.
Naspers, which rose more than 10% on Wednesday after the news that Tencent, its Chinese internet subsidiary, increased its profit for the first quarter with 60%, was by midday 0.87% lower than the previous session's close at R1 179.00. Tencent’s share price jumped with more than 5% in Hong Kong on Thursday.
One of the most active shares in morning trade was Richemont [JSE:RCH] which strengthened with 4.6% to R106.00 and the share, one the most popular rand hedges on the JSE, is not far away from its previous 52-week high of R109.37 set in February this year.
Its stablemate, Remgro, was at another record level this morning after gaining 1.56% to R216.87. Remgro is still trading at a relatively low price earnings ratio, compared to some of the other heavyweights.
Another company in the Remgro stable that is trading close to record levels is Medi-Clinic International [JSE:MDC] which traded 0.34% higher at R77.30, after setting a record of R78.39 last week on the back of a strong trade announcement.
Medi-Clinic’s competitor Netcare [JSE:NTC], which set a record of R26.20 on Wednesday, was 0.73% lower on R26.01.
Two companies who announced strong results this week are also on record levels. Altron traded for the second day on a 52-week high after announcing yesterday that headline earnings per share for the first half on the year was 42% higher after the company exited from its loss making operations in Africa. The share was another 1.02% higher on R25.76.
Sappi was 2.03% higher at a new record of R37.75 after announcing a net income of $32m for the three months through March, compared with a restated $2m a year ago. The company also sees a return to full-year profit as cost cuts and a move away from lower-margin paper boosted performance.