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JSE firms despite China rate hike

Johannesburg - The JSE edged up slightly at the opening bell on Monday, with the market remaining relatively quiet despite an unexpected interest rates hike in China over the holiday weekend.

A trader said trade was very light for now shortly after the Christmas holiday. "Many market participants around the world are away from their desks," the trader said.

By 09:16 local time the JSE all share index was up 0.27%, with platinum miners rising 0.87% and resources adding 0.24%. But gold miners (-0.04%) were flat. Financials gained 0.19%, banks rose 0.12% and industrials were up 0.27%.

The rand was bid at R6.70 to the dollar from R6.74 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at $1 390.20 a troy ounce from $1 383.50/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 745.00/oz from $1 728.00/oz before.

The trader said commodity prices were firmer, boosting mining stocks on the local bourse.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that Asian stock markets were mixed on Tuesday with the Japanese market weighed by profit-taking while securities firms fell in China as investors fretted over the possibility of further monetary tightening measures from Beijing.

"It seems quite clear that China has entered a cycle of interest rate hikes and that's going to put regional and global stock markets under some pressure in the near term, but the latest move (from Beijing) had been widely anticipated and I don't expect investors to overreact," said Choi Keun-Hwan, a senior currency dealer at Busan Bank in Seoul.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.13%, but in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was last 1.13% weaker.

European stock markets are likely to nudge higher, in line with Wall Street futures, while bourses shake off the lingering impact of China's rate hike. 

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Rand - Dollar
18.88
+0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.86
+0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.31
+0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
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