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Johannesburg - The JSE remained flat at noon in light trading on Thursday, as investors seemed reluctant to commit following a strong run yesterday. Investors were taking profits off the table, a trader said.
By 12:07 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.10%, with platinum miners rising 0.71% and resources gaining 0.31%. But gold miners fell 0.86%. Banks lost 0.56%, but industrials (-0.01%) and financials (-0.10%) were little changed.
The rand was bid at 6.71 to the dollar from 6.77 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at US$1 507.27 a troy ounce from US$1 504.84/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 816.50/oz, from $1 805.00/oz previously.
"Market players are reluctant to take long positions ahead of the long weekend and given the strong push yesterday," the trader said. The market was awaiting a barrage of economic and corporate announcements later today, he said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks were mildly higher on Thursday, as strong corporate earnings data continued to provide support, although the temptation to book profits ahead of the long Easter weekend break hampered some of the upside.
"It seems global fund allocators still view equities as a more attractive option than either sovereign debt or holding cash, and a clutch of supportive earnings reports across the major markets [has been] enough to prompt the latest wave of buying," said Ian Williams, strategist at Altium Securities.
At the same time, participants seem to be re-evaluating Monday's sell-off sparked by Standard & Poor's downgrade of the US economy's outlook, seeing it as an over-reaction, said RBC Capital Markets.
By 07:44 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.3% at 279.83. London's FTSE 100 index was 0.3% higher at 6 040.51, Frankfurt's DAX index was 0.7% higher at 7 299.43, and Paris's CAC-40 index gained 0.4% to 4 021.76.
The focus will be on retail sales data out of the UK at 08:30 GMT. In the US, the Philadelphia Fed index and leading indicator data are due at 14:00 GMT. On the high-profile US earnings agenda, Advanced Micro Devices, General Electric Co, Verizon and Morgan Stanley are all expected to report quarterly results.
Asian stock markets were mostly higher on Thursday, helped by strong earnings from Apple and gains on Wall Street on Wednesday.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.8% and South Korea's Kospi Composite added 1.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite index was 0.7% higher.
By 12:07 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.10%, with platinum miners rising 0.71% and resources gaining 0.31%. But gold miners fell 0.86%. Banks lost 0.56%, but industrials (-0.01%) and financials (-0.10%) were little changed.
The rand was bid at 6.71 to the dollar from 6.77 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at US$1 507.27 a troy ounce from US$1 504.84/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 816.50/oz, from $1 805.00/oz previously.
"Market players are reluctant to take long positions ahead of the long weekend and given the strong push yesterday," the trader said. The market was awaiting a barrage of economic and corporate announcements later today, he said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks were mildly higher on Thursday, as strong corporate earnings data continued to provide support, although the temptation to book profits ahead of the long Easter weekend break hampered some of the upside.
"It seems global fund allocators still view equities as a more attractive option than either sovereign debt or holding cash, and a clutch of supportive earnings reports across the major markets [has been] enough to prompt the latest wave of buying," said Ian Williams, strategist at Altium Securities.
At the same time, participants seem to be re-evaluating Monday's sell-off sparked by Standard & Poor's downgrade of the US economy's outlook, seeing it as an over-reaction, said RBC Capital Markets.
By 07:44 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.3% at 279.83. London's FTSE 100 index was 0.3% higher at 6 040.51, Frankfurt's DAX index was 0.7% higher at 7 299.43, and Paris's CAC-40 index gained 0.4% to 4 021.76.
The focus will be on retail sales data out of the UK at 08:30 GMT. In the US, the Philadelphia Fed index and leading indicator data are due at 14:00 GMT. On the high-profile US earnings agenda, Advanced Micro Devices, General Electric Co, Verizon and Morgan Stanley are all expected to report quarterly results.
Asian stock markets were mostly higher on Thursday, helped by strong earnings from Apple and gains on Wall Street on Wednesday.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.8% and South Korea's Kospi Composite added 1.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite index was 0.7% higher.
