Johannesburg - The JSE was full of festive cheer on Wednesday morning, boosted by strong gains on Wall Street on Tuesday and firm Asian markets.
US markets had a strong showing yesterday, with the Dow up 2.87%, the Nasdaq 3.19% firmer and the S&P 500 closing up 2.98%, boosted by upbeat US housing data and a successful Spanish debt auction.
At 09:13 local time, the JSE All Share
[JSE:J203] index was up 0.71%, boosted by a 1.45% rise in platinum miners, a 0.60% jump in resources and a 0.41% advance for gold miners.
Banks rose 1.24%, financials advanced 0.74% and industrial counters gained 0.61%.
The rand was bid at 8.12 to the dollar from 8.22 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold traded at US$1,625.60 a troy ounce from US$1,613.28/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was quoted at US$1,440.50/oz, from US$1,429.50/oz at the previous close.
A local dealer said the good figures out of the US yesterday have got the markets going. In addition, the European Central Bank's move to provide three-year liquidity to banks has also helped lift sentiment.
"The euro has recovered a bit - that's some positive news - but whether it's the end of all the problems there, it remains to be seen," he said.
"All this is helping the year-end rally. We have seen quite a pullback in the local market in the past couple of weeks, and it is starting to recover off oversold levels. However, volumes have declined quite a bit, but the rally may still have a bit of momentum," he said.