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Johannesburg - World stocks climbed back towards all-time highs on Tuesday and took the JSE with them, but by midday the local market lost a lot of that initial momentum.
The All-share index opened at 54 096 points on Tuesday morning, more than 250 points or 0.5% higher than the previous day’s close. At one stage the index was at 54 243, not far below the all-time high of 54 262.
But by midday the index had lost most of that momentum and was only 0.29% higher than on Monday at 53 995 points - considerably below the opening level.
In fact, the intraday graph of most of the major indices on the JSE had a convex shape, rising initially and then dropping back again. By midday the Top 40-index was 0.38% higher at 47 707 after opening at 47 863 and reaching a high of 47 961, only 43 points behind the all-time high of 48 004 points.
The All-share index was pulled higher by the Financial index, which gained 0.60%, and the Industrial index, which traded 07% higher at midday. Both indices were also higher in earlier trading. The Gold index was 1.86% up but the Resources index, which gained more than 2% on Monday, was 1.67% lower by midday.
Wall Street provided the initial momentum on Monday evening by responding positively to plans to stimulate the Chinese economy.
READ: US stocks surge on China stimulus
On Tuesday morning the Asian markets reversed most of Monday's losses, and European trading also started strongly on upbeat European earnings reports and expectations of a sixth straight rise in German business confidence. That helped to offset worries about a possible Greek default.
READ: Global markets: Upbeat earnings lift stocks
Asian markets followed a positive lead from Wall Street. Tokyo jumped 1.40% to finish at 19 909.09 and Shanghai rallied 1.82% to 4 293.62. Hong Kong surged 2.79% points to 27 850.49.
READ: Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher
The solid performance of the local industrial sector was again mainly due to Naspers [JSE:NPN] which gained 2.77% to R1 880.76 in reaction to the strong market in Hong Kong. Hong Kong-listed internet giant Tencent rose 3.92% to $HK 159.10. Naspers owns 34% of Tencent.
Richemont [JSE:CFR] was also strong on Tuesday morning and gained 1.11% to R105.24, but Sasol [JSE:SOL] lost ground for the second consecutive day when it dropped 0.54% to R646.47.
Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] was one of the strong performers in the financial sector, gaining 2.86% to trade at R190.30. Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] also traded 0.60% firmer at R172.99.
Among the insurers MMI Holdings [JSE:MMI] was 0.68% higher at R34.13 and Old Mutual [JSE:OML] gained 0.34% to R41.79.
The mood around resources shares still seems to be bearish and any recovery is used to take profits. Anglo American [JSE:AGL] gave up many of the gains of the last few days and traded 2.83% softer at R181.53. The share is now only 4.81% higher for the week. BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] lost 2.2% to R261.86, and is now 4.97% higher for the week.
In the gold sector AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] is now 13.01% higher for the week after it gained 0.91% to R138.80 by Tuesday midday. The stock has gained more than 40% in the year to date after it reached a 52-week low of R91.95 in December last year.
