Johannesburg - The JSE flipped between positive and negative territory at noon on Tuesday amid some consolidation following the previous day’s rally‚ which pushed the all-share index to near record levels.
At 12:06 local time‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.04% to 34 423.37 points‚ with gold shares lifting 1.32%‚ while resources were down 0.15% and platinum counters lost 1.40%.
Financials were flat (0.01%)‚ as were banking stocks (0.05%) and industrials (0.05%).
The rand was trading at 8.27 to the US dollar‚ from 8.34 at the JSE's close on Monday‚ while gold was quoted at $1 631.40 a troy ounce from $1 622.95/oz at the JSE's previous close and platinum was at $1 488.20/oz‚ from $1 483.20/oz previously.
“It is nice to see the market sitting at the top end of its trading range after good news from Greece‚” said Craig Pheiffer‚ general manager at Absa Investments. “The market is probably buying time ahead of FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) statement. I’m not sure‚ however‚ if that data is going to take us to new levels‚ given the uncertainties around Europe.”
US stock-market futures traded slightly higher on Tuesday ahead of the start of a two-day Fed meeting‚ while European stocks largely rose as pressure eased a bit on Spanish bonds‚ according to Dow Jones Newswires. Many observers believe the Fed would likely extend its $400 billion Operation Twist programme at the end of the meeting that begins on Tuesday. Under the twist programme‚ the Fed sells short-term securities while buying longer-term securities in order to keep long-term interest rates low.
London’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.83% at noon local time.
In Asia the Hang Seng index finished the day flat (-0.06%).