Johannesburg – The South African share market hovered in flat territory on Tuesday in the absence of fresh impetus‚ while Anglo American (AGL) shares rallied to six-month highs after the blue-chip resources company announced the appointment of Mark Cutifani as its new chief executive.
At 12:31‚ the All Share [JSE:J203] index was flat (0.03%) at 40 173.46 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index also flat at 35 642.39. Gold stocks shed 1.76% for a 3.35% loss this month on negative investor sentiment after Harmony Gold Mining suspended production at its Kusasalethu mine due to labour unrest.
“The market will trade in a tight band for some time as market players reshuffle their portfolios following the strong run-up towards the end of last year‚” said Mohammed Nalla‚ head of strategic research at Nedbank Capital.
Leading European shares were modestly weaker at noon‚ as were their Asian counterparts by the close of trade. London’s FTSE 100 was last seen up 0.07%.
The US corporate earnings season kicks into gear later on Tuesday‚ with aluminium company Alcoa set to report its fourth quarter set of results‚ which traders believe will determine the near-term market direction.
On the JSE Anglo American (AGL) was up 2.26% to R283 but Aquarius Platinum lost 2.96% to R8.86 and Anglo Gold Ashanti (ANG) lost 2.13% to 252.80 after its CEO Mark Cutifani accepted Anglo American’s offer. Harmony (HAR) was down 2.04% to R67.57.
Coal of Africa (CoAL‚ CZA) was up 6.04% to R2.81‚ continuing its run since Monday when the company announced the signing a memorandum of understanding with commodities trader Vitol Group.
Telecoms group Vodacom (VOD) shed 2.13% to R125.03‚ while banking group Capitec Holdings (CPI) rallied 3.32% to R196.
Retailer Mr Price (MPC) shed 2.46% to R140.85 and cement producer PPC (PPC) gained 1.15% to R33.55.