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Johannesburg - The JSE opened flat on Thursday, as a combination of profit-taking and the strong rand weighed on equities, especially mining counters. Yesterday, the benchmark index soared 2.16%.
The rand, which stood at about 6.76 against the dollar, placed some mining shares under pressure, an equity dealer said
By 09:18 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was flat (0.05%), with resources gaining 0.20%. But platinum miners fell 0.22% and gold miners shed 0.17%. Banks also lost 0.34%, while industrials (-0.01%) and financials (-0.08%) were both flat.
The rand was bid at R6.76 to the dollar from R6.77 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1 504.64 a troy ounce from $1 504.84/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 809.50/oz, from $1 805.00/oz previously.
The equity dealer said the market rallied yesterday on the back of good financial results in the US. "I expect the market to stay in the black," he said, adding that profit-taking was likely to occur ahead of the Easter holidays.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian stock markets were mostly higher on Thursday, cheered by Wall Street's gains on Wednesday and Apple's results, with the upbeat sentiment reflected in the foreign exchange market as riskier currencies pushed higher against the US dollar.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.0%, and South Korea's Kospi Composite added 1.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.9%, Taiwan's main index added 1.8%, and the Shanghai Composite index was 0.7% higher.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 41 points in screen trade.
Technology-related stocks did well in Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei. "Great earnings numbers from both Apple (this morning) and Intel (Wednesday) this week are giving investors confidence that the US economy is trending up, and for now it's offsetting concerns over debt issues in Europe and nuclear worries," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of the equity division at Nikko Cordial Securities.
The rand, which stood at about 6.76 against the dollar, placed some mining shares under pressure, an equity dealer said
By 09:18 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was flat (0.05%), with resources gaining 0.20%. But platinum miners fell 0.22% and gold miners shed 0.17%. Banks also lost 0.34%, while industrials (-0.01%) and financials (-0.08%) were both flat.
The rand was bid at R6.76 to the dollar from R6.77 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1 504.64 a troy ounce from $1 504.84/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 809.50/oz, from $1 805.00/oz previously.
The equity dealer said the market rallied yesterday on the back of good financial results in the US. "I expect the market to stay in the black," he said, adding that profit-taking was likely to occur ahead of the Easter holidays.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian stock markets were mostly higher on Thursday, cheered by Wall Street's gains on Wednesday and Apple's results, with the upbeat sentiment reflected in the foreign exchange market as riskier currencies pushed higher against the US dollar.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.0%, and South Korea's Kospi Composite added 1.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.9%, Taiwan's main index added 1.8%, and the Shanghai Composite index was 0.7% higher.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 41 points in screen trade.
Technology-related stocks did well in Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei. "Great earnings numbers from both Apple (this morning) and Intel (Wednesday) this week are giving investors confidence that the US economy is trending up, and for now it's offsetting concerns over debt issues in Europe and nuclear worries," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of the equity division at Nikko Cordial Securities.
