Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Investors on the JSE are currently wary as they become increasingly concerned about valuations.
The All-share Index traded in a very narrow band between 49 920 and 49 980 on Monday morning and was never far from Friday’s record close, when the index failed for a second day to close above 50 000 after it breached the mark earlier in the day.
On both occasions investors started to take profit as some of the high flyers like SABMiller were reaching new highs, which is a clear indication that investors are uncertain about the sustainability of the run.
By midday the All-share Index was only 0.03% lower at 49 938, but the Top 40-Index was 0.05% higher at 44 918. The industrial and resources indices were both marginally higher, but the financial index lost 0.35% after some of the banks which reached record levels on Friday lost ground.
The market received a welcome boost from New York on Friday night when the S&P 500 Index closed above 1 900 for the first time, as a positive report on new home sales helped push US stocks broadly higher.
The S&P 500 advanced 8.04 points to 1 900.53, beating by more than three points the index's record close earlier this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 63.19 points to 16 606.27, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 31.47 points to 4 185.81. The Asian markets reached a year high after Wall Street’s record run.
The record close by the S&P 500 Index followed a Commerce Department report that showed new single-family homes were sold at an annual rate of 433 000 units in April, well above analysts' forecast of 415 000.
Some American analysts think there is still upward momentum in the New York markets, but in South Africa there are respectable analysts who believe US markets are as overvalued as the local market. No wonder the JSE opened lower on Monday morning.
The American markets are closed on Monday for Memorial Day, so there will be no further impetus from that source.
It was a mixed picture from the three heavyweights in the industrial sector - Richemont, SABMiller and Naspers - which represent more than 30% of the industry.
SABMiller, which traded at a new high last week before investors took profits towards the end of week, resumed its upward trend on Monday morning and was 0.46% higher at R575.74. It traded at a record R589.62 last week.
Richemont continued its run of the last few days and at midday was 0.6% higher at R109.02, only 35c or about 0.3% lower than the record of R109.37 set on February 13.
Naspers, which was recovering nicely from its correction of more than 25% recently, could not maintain that momentum. By midday the share was at R1 199.12, 0.77% weaker than Friday.
In the financial sector Standard Bank - which reached a 52-week high of R145 on Friday - gave back 0.88% on Monday morning to trade at R143.72 by midday. FirstRand, which was on a high of R402.50 on Friday, lost 0.6% to R400.10.
The All-share Index traded in a very narrow band between 49 920 and 49 980 on Monday morning and was never far from Friday’s record close, when the index failed for a second day to close above 50 000 after it breached the mark earlier in the day.
On both occasions investors started to take profit as some of the high flyers like SABMiller were reaching new highs, which is a clear indication that investors are uncertain about the sustainability of the run.
By midday the All-share Index was only 0.03% lower at 49 938, but the Top 40-Index was 0.05% higher at 44 918. The industrial and resources indices were both marginally higher, but the financial index lost 0.35% after some of the banks which reached record levels on Friday lost ground.
The market received a welcome boost from New York on Friday night when the S&P 500 Index closed above 1 900 for the first time, as a positive report on new home sales helped push US stocks broadly higher.
The S&P 500 advanced 8.04 points to 1 900.53, beating by more than three points the index's record close earlier this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 63.19 points to 16 606.27, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 31.47 points to 4 185.81. The Asian markets reached a year high after Wall Street’s record run.
The record close by the S&P 500 Index followed a Commerce Department report that showed new single-family homes were sold at an annual rate of 433 000 units in April, well above analysts' forecast of 415 000.
Some American analysts think there is still upward momentum in the New York markets, but in South Africa there are respectable analysts who believe US markets are as overvalued as the local market. No wonder the JSE opened lower on Monday morning.
The American markets are closed on Monday for Memorial Day, so there will be no further impetus from that source.
It was a mixed picture from the three heavyweights in the industrial sector - Richemont, SABMiller and Naspers - which represent more than 30% of the industry.
SABMiller, which traded at a new high last week before investors took profits towards the end of week, resumed its upward trend on Monday morning and was 0.46% higher at R575.74. It traded at a record R589.62 last week.
Richemont continued its run of the last few days and at midday was 0.6% higher at R109.02, only 35c or about 0.3% lower than the record of R109.37 set on February 13.
Naspers, which was recovering nicely from its correction of more than 25% recently, could not maintain that momentum. By midday the share was at R1 199.12, 0.77% weaker than Friday.
In the financial sector Standard Bank - which reached a 52-week high of R145 on Friday - gave back 0.88% on Monday morning to trade at R143.72 by midday. FirstRand, which was on a high of R402.50 on Friday, lost 0.6% to R400.10.
