Johannesburg - The JSE edged up at the start of trade on Friday‚
in line with leading global markets‚ amid renewed hopes of coordinated monetary
easing by central banks to shore up the global economy.
At 09:39 local time‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was
up 0.29% to 33‚922.66 points‚ with resources gaining 0.82%‚ gold counters
lifting 1% and platinums firming 0.39%.
Financials were relatively flat (0.11%)‚ as were banking
stocks (-0.04%) and industrials (0.11%).
The rand was trading at R8.36 to the US dollar‚ from R8.42
at the JSE's close on Thursday‚ while gold was quoted at $1 627 a troy ounce
from $1 617.41/oz at the JSE's previous close and platinum was at $1 496/oz‚
from $1 468.50/oz previously.
“We expect a fairly cautious stance on the side of investors
to creep in ahead of the Geek election and the potential fallout on the
markets‚” said Devin Shutte‚ a trader at stockbrokerage‚ Newstrading.
Asian and European markets were mostly firmer on signs that
major central banks are planning to try to rescue the global economy‚ though
there was caution ahead of the Greek elections.
Japan's Nikkei ended flat at the close‚ while the Hang Seng
index was up 1.88% at 09:24 local time. At the same time‚ in Europe‚ London’s
FTSE was up 0.72%.