Johannesburg — The JSE all-share tilted lower on Friday but was on course to end the month on a positive note after gaining almost 2%‚ led by industrial stocks.
At 12:29‚ the All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.16% to 37 847.58 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index slipping 0.13% to 33 621.07 and banks losing 1%.
For the month‚ industrials were the best performing stocks‚ rallying 4.45% while platinum counters underperformed the broader market with a 4.45% decline.
“Industrials continue to outclass the resources sector. It is the story of the month and year. Companies in the industrial space continue to record double-digit earnings growth‚ which is hard to find anywhere in the world‚” said Ryan Wibberley‚ equity dealer‚ at Investec Asset Management. “On the other hand‚ there are certain things that need to come together before one gets an improved commodity price outlook and that includes the stabilisation of China’s economic growth.”
Share markets in Europe were slightly firmer‚ with UK’s FTSE 100 nudging up 0.10% by 12:14 local time.
Among individual stocks on the JSE‚ Lonmin was down 2.83% to R37.40 and Exxaro dropped 2.37% to R154.59.
Richemont lifted 1.65% to R67.60‚ a fraction off its all time high.
Nedbank was down 1.06% to R178.73 as was FirstRand‚ which gave up 1.75% to R29.11.