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JSE flat, lacking direction

Johannesburg - The JSE opened little changes on Thursday as investors struggled to find direction, with the market swinging from tiny gains to small losses in the morning session.

By 09:15 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up a slight 0.09%, platinum miners rose 0.43% and gold miners gained 0.63%. Banks firmed 0.41%, financials were up 0.21% and industrials advanced 0.36%. But resources bucked the upward trend, falling 0.28%

The rand was bid at R6.78 to the dollar from R6.75 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1 462.47 a troy ounce from $1 460.39/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 778.00/oz, from $1 783.50/oz previously.

A trader said that there was "not too much direction", mirroring flattish US futures. Gold stocks shone in the opening trade, she said.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Thursday, with the nuclear crisis in Japan continuing to weigh on Tokyo shares, while the Singapore dollar briefly hit a record high against the greenback after Singapore's central bank tightened monetary policy.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.2%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6%, and South Korea's Kospi Composite was 0.5% lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was off 0.4%, Taiwan's main index rose 0.2%, and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.1%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat in screen trade.

"After the risk-off session the previous day (Tuesday), global markets have recovered somewhat (Wednesday), though there is still some nervousness out there," said ANZ Bank senior economist Khoon Goh in Wellington.

"The earnings reporting season does not look likely to spark a fresh rally in (US) equities, and the run of upside surprises to US economic data look to be nearing its end, though this has more to do with improved expectations as opposed to poor data."






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Rand - Dollar
18.93
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.44
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.1%
Platinum
906.59
+1.1%
Palladium
1,012.66
+1.1%
Gold
2,221.01
+1.2%
Silver
24.85
+0.9%
Brent-ruolie
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.9%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.9%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
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