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Johannesburg - The JSE was higher on Wednesday morning‚ with all the main indices posting gains.
Resources were in the lead‚ followed by platinum and gold miners.
At 9:12‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was 0.62% firmer at 40 044.23 points and the blue-chip Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] ndex was up 0.66%.
The resource and platinum indices rose 1.15% and 0.86% respectively and the gold index added 0.66% on a firmer gold price this morning‚ after shedding 2.43% on Tuesday.
The spot price of gold was quoted at $1 454‚75 an ounce at 9:12‚ 0.36% firmer than Tuesday’s level.
Rand Merchant Bank said the global backdrop was positive‚ as a result of both market sentiment and real economic data.
“US equities made record levels again overnight‚ with the Dow (Jones industrial average) closing above 15 000 points for the first time ever‚” RMB said in its morning note on Wednesday.
“And markets have been encouraged by the Portuguese government’s very successful return to the bond market after two years living on bail-out cash.
“On the data front‚ German industrial orders showed a surprise jump‚ while Chinese April export figures released this morning beat expectations nicely‚” the bank said.
“Event risk is limited today‚ with no major local or international data‚ although Chinese inflation data will be released early tomorrow morning.”
In London the FTSE 100 index was expected to open flat.
Asian stocks rose on Wednesday on bullish Chinese trade data. In Tokyo stocks the data spurred buying of exporters such as Fanuc and Komatsu‚ while renewed hope for SoftBank’s expansion plans helped to carry the market to a fresh four-year‚ 10-month high‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The Nikkei average closed 0.74% firmer at 14 285.69 points following the prior day's 3.6% surge.
The major indices were bullish from the start on Wednesday following record highs posted by both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 overnight‚ as well as strong German industrial data.
The release of Chinese trade data showing a surprising April surplus from a hefty March deficit showed that demand for Chinese goods abroad is recovering‚ further stoking positive sentiment.
The Hong Kong Hang Seng index was 0.7% firmer at 23 207.29 points before the close.
Among individual stocks on the JSE‚ Anglo American (AGL) was 1.42% higher at R230.20 and BHP Billiton (BIL) added 1.38% to R266.79.
In the industrial sector‚ Bell Equipment (BEL) surged 3.11% to R23.20‚ while Imperial (IPL) dipped 0.18% to R216.26.
Among gold counters Gold Fields (GFI) was up 0.67% at R61.94 and Sibanye (SGL) rose 3.79% to R8.50 but Gold One International (GDO) shed 4.31% to R2.
Aquarius Platinum (AQP) jumped 4.29% to R6.57 after adding more than 6% on Tuesday and Lonmin (LON) gained 1.68% to R41.69 after adding 3.74% on Tuesday.
Cashbuild was off 2.75% at R134.
Shares in SA’s biggest unsecured lender‚ African Bank Investments (Abil‚ ABL)‚ managed to halt their recent sharp three-day slide‚ clawing back 2.34% to R21.86.
