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Johannesburg - It is a short trading week on the JSE and as expected, investors preferred to play it safe by not pushing share prices even higher.
Although the major indices were lower at midday, this does not mean that the underlying positive sentiment on the market is gone, but rather that investors are sitting it out during a week when there will be very little company news to influence prices.
Last week the market reached new records.
After being closed on Monday, the market will also be closed on Thursday.
At one stage the All-share index was more than 0.50% weaker than Friday, and by midday it was 0.41% lower at 48 713.13. The Top 40 index dropped 0.45% to 43 653.
The big culprit on Tuesday morning was resources stocks, with the resources 10 index at one stage more than 1.5% weaker than on Friday, but by midday the index was only 1.19% lower. Anglo American was 1.41% lower on R269.44 after reaching a low of R268.02 earlier in the morning.
After a strong run last week, resources started to lose momentum towards the end of the week because of continued uncertainties about China's economic prospects.
The overall sentiment from abroad is still positive, as it seems that market concerns about the crisis in Ukraine have eased somewhat after President Barack Obama announced additional sanctions against key Russian officials and companies.
Wall Street closed higher on Monday night, following a hiccup on Friday after disappointing results from Amazon and Ford renewed worries about consumer spending.
Important announcements about the American economy are due this week which could also have an influence on the local market, and which go some way towards explaining why investors preferred to be on the sidelines to avoid being exposed on Thursday, when the market will be closed.
On Wednesday there will be an announcement on monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, and the latest jobs data will be published on Friday.
On the local front, some of the big shares which have reached highs recently are still hovering just under their previous highs.
FirstRand was only 0.36% lower than the high of R39.07 it reached last week at R38.93. Standard Bank, which was on a high of R143.70 earlier this month, lost another 0.81% in the morning and is now trading at R138.79.
Pick n Pay - which had a very strong run after surprisingly strong results earlier last month and reached a high of R25.62 last week - traded R0.59 lower on Tuesday morning at R25.03.
A few big names were however on new highs this morning, including SABMiller, Santam and PSG which improved further on the records set on Friday. SABMiller was a solid 2.14% higher than Friday’s record at R56.93, while Santam improved by 0.3% on Friday’s high at R202.79.
PSG, which rose to record heights last week on the back of solid results, gained another 2.47% to R103.49.
British American Tobacco, which was on a record level of R610.52 last Thursday, reached a new high of R619.39 at midday.
Although the major indices were lower at midday, this does not mean that the underlying positive sentiment on the market is gone, but rather that investors are sitting it out during a week when there will be very little company news to influence prices.
Last week the market reached new records.
After being closed on Monday, the market will also be closed on Thursday.
At one stage the All-share index was more than 0.50% weaker than Friday, and by midday it was 0.41% lower at 48 713.13. The Top 40 index dropped 0.45% to 43 653.
The big culprit on Tuesday morning was resources stocks, with the resources 10 index at one stage more than 1.5% weaker than on Friday, but by midday the index was only 1.19% lower. Anglo American was 1.41% lower on R269.44 after reaching a low of R268.02 earlier in the morning.
After a strong run last week, resources started to lose momentum towards the end of the week because of continued uncertainties about China's economic prospects.
The overall sentiment from abroad is still positive, as it seems that market concerns about the crisis in Ukraine have eased somewhat after President Barack Obama announced additional sanctions against key Russian officials and companies.
Wall Street closed higher on Monday night, following a hiccup on Friday after disappointing results from Amazon and Ford renewed worries about consumer spending.
Important announcements about the American economy are due this week which could also have an influence on the local market, and which go some way towards explaining why investors preferred to be on the sidelines to avoid being exposed on Thursday, when the market will be closed.
On Wednesday there will be an announcement on monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, and the latest jobs data will be published on Friday.
On the local front, some of the big shares which have reached highs recently are still hovering just under their previous highs.
FirstRand was only 0.36% lower than the high of R39.07 it reached last week at R38.93. Standard Bank, which was on a high of R143.70 earlier this month, lost another 0.81% in the morning and is now trading at R138.79.
Pick n Pay - which had a very strong run after surprisingly strong results earlier last month and reached a high of R25.62 last week - traded R0.59 lower on Tuesday morning at R25.03.
A few big names were however on new highs this morning, including SABMiller, Santam and PSG which improved further on the records set on Friday. SABMiller was a solid 2.14% higher than Friday’s record at R56.93, while Santam improved by 0.3% on Friday’s high at R202.79.
PSG, which rose to record heights last week on the back of solid results, gained another 2.47% to R103.49.
British American Tobacco, which was on a record level of R610.52 last Thursday, reached a new high of R619.39 at midday.
