Johannesburg - The JSE lacked direction on Tuesday in the absence of fresh catalysts‚ while construction stocks remained under pressure amid an investigation of alleged collusion in the industry.
At 12:45‚ the All Share [JSE:J203] index was flat (0.02%) at 40 578.98 points‚ with the banking index lifting 1.22%.
“After the tremendous run in the year to date‚ the market is in a consolidation phase. Uncertain political landscape in Europe has provided an excuse for some to take profits off the table‚” said Ryan Wibberley‚ equity dealer‚ Investec Asset Management.
The All Share index‚ however‚ remains in record territory after gaining more than 3% last month.
European markets were trying to gain direction following a resurgence of eurozone fears after comments made by the French Finance minister that the euro is overvalued‚ and political uncertainty in Spain and Italy.
At 12:29 London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.34%‚ while the US stock futures pointed to a flat opening on Wall Street later in the day.
On the JSE‚ Northam Platinum (NHM) gave back 0.89% to R39 after the platinum miner said on Tuesday that its earnings and headline earnings per share for the six months ended December last year are estimated to be between 30% and 45% lower than in the previous comparable period.
Impala Platinum (IMP) shed 2.25% to R165.20‚ Aquarius Platinum (AQP) lost 2.65% to R9.20 and BHP Billiton (BIL) was down 1.18% to R303.18.
Among banks‚ Nedbank (NED) lifted 1.93% to R192.14‚ Absa (ASA) improved 1.50% to R171.72 and FirstRand (FSR) gained 1.54% to R31.67.
Among construction stocks‚ Group Five (GRF) was down 1.48% to R30.05 and PPC (PPC) shed 1.78% to R32.03