Johannesburg, Feb 2 (I-Net Bridge) - The JSE was up at the close on
Thursday, as the market's underlying bullish tone continued to drive
trade higher.
A local trader said, "It's difficult to tell if the tone is a
result of expectation that a deal would be made in Europe."
The
All Share [JSE:J203] has risen 7% in January alone which was "absolutely fierce".
The trader did warn that even though the market was lifting
significantly on the underlying tone caution was warranted in terms of
trading it.
The rand has also displayed a significant move with a shift of just over 5% during the course of January.
At 17:00, the JSE all-share index closed up 0.68% at
34,371.50. An intraday record was set for the all-share (34,460.57),
industrials (36,166.13) and banks (45,186.45).
Platinum declined 1.66%, however resources moved 0.99% higher and gold stocks were static (0.02%).
Banks generated 0.90%, financials added 0.75% and industrials collected 0.40%.
The rand was bid at 7.65 to the dollar from 7.68 at the JSE's
close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at US$1,750.48 a troy ounce from
US$1,745.03/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at
US$1,625/oz, from US$1,611/oz before.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks were mixed after a
better-than-expected reading on weekly jobless claims buoyed investor
sentiment one day before a key monthly employment report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.12% at the time of the JSE close.
Stock futures edged into positive territory before the open
after initial unemployment claims decreased by 12,000 to 367,000 last
week, slightly better than expectations. Economists surveyed by Dow
Jones Newswires expected jobless claims to decline to 370,000 from last
week's 377,000.
"It's all about the trend. Before the end of the season, we be
could be down close to 350,000, which is kind of a magic level that
tells you that we really are in a healthier labour market," said Michael
Shaoul, chief executive at brokerage firm Oscar Gruss. Investors will
be watching for Friday's release of nonfarm payrolls and unemployment
rate.
Meanwhile, data showed US workers' productivity rose at a
slower pace in the final three months of 2011 while labour costs edged
higher. Nonfarm business productivity rose at a 0.7% annual rate in
October through to December, in line with economists' forecasts. Unit
labour costs rose by 1.2%, higher than the expected 0.8% rise.
European markets inched higher while talks between Greece and
its private creditors over a debt restructuring continued. Meanwhile,
Spain raised slightly more than its planned amount of cash in a
government bond sale and at lower borrowing costs than at previous
auctions.
In deal news, Xstrata and Glencore International announced
that they were in talks for a merger that would create the world's
third-largest mining company and dramatically alter the industry's
landscape.