Johannesburg - The JSE share market held firmer at noon‚ boosted mainly by the strong recovery of gold and platinum shares from oversold levels‚ and as market players awaited the outcomes of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy meeting‚ which will be announced at 14:30 local time.
“Today’s busy economic calendar is not deterring markets. We are seeing gains across the board‚ but most noticeably in gold and resource counters. The question is‚ will ECB president Mario Draghi’s actions meet the euphoria and optimism currently being priced into markets?” said Shaun Murison‚ market analyst at IG Markets SA.
“Overnight rumours/leaks suggest an announcement of unlimited bond buying from the ECB.”
At 12:36‚ the JSE all-share index was up 0.89% to 35 356.38 points‚ with gold miners adding 2.90% and the platinum index up 2.49%.
European shares were broadly firmer at noon‚ while US stock futures pointed a positive open on Wall Street.
Among individual shares‚ Sasol
[JSE:SOL] gained 2.40% to R362‚ Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP) lifted 2.58% to R128.84 and Lonmin
[JSE:LON] recovered 3.99% to R74.56 after a peace accord was signed at its troubled Marikana mine.
AngloGold Ashanti
[JSE:ANG] rose 2.80% to R276.68 and Gold Fields
[JSE:GFI] added 2.78% to R106.83.
African Rainbow Minerals
[JSE:ARM] climbed 2.73% to R151.01.
Among industrial shares‚ Bivest
[JSE:BVT] was up 1.66% to R206.90 and Imperial [JSE:IPL] rose 2.20% to R207.74.
Amongst construction shares‚ Basil Read
[JSE:BSR] gained 2.44% to R8.40.
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