Johannesburg - The JSE share market ended slightly higher on Friday‚ tracking the positive trend in global markets.
“The prime moving force on global equities was still the European Central Bank's (ECB) pledge to provide extra liquidity to help the troubled eurozone countries‚” said Ian Cruickshanks‚ market watcher at Nedbank Capital. “Investors have regained risk appetite.”
Mining shares were the main beneficiary of the market buoyancy.
The weaker-than-expected US jobs report added to the rally in the mining shares‚ as hopes grew increasingly that the fed might take steps to bolster the US economy.
At 17:00‚ the JSE all-share index was up 0.19% at 35 744.25 points‚ with resources up 3.54%‚ the platinum index garnered 5.26%‚ and the gold index climbed 2.20%
Leading European shares were in positive territory in late trade‚ while US stocks were flat.
Among individual counters‚ Anglo American
[JSE:AGL] rallied 5.98% to R257.84 and BHP Billiton
[JSE:BIL] rose 2.44% to R250.45.
Impala Platinum
[JSE:IMP] was up 6.95% to R138.76 and Lonmin
[JSE:LON] picked up 4.57% to R78.79.
AngloGold Ashanti
[JSE:ANG] added 2.50% to R280.86 and Harmony
[JSE:HAR] lifted 3.50% to R73.25.
Exxaro
[JSE:EXX] rose 3.93% to R155.95‚ Kumba Iron Ore
[JSE:KIO] climbed 7.32% at R497.98 and African Rainbow Minerals
[JSE:ARM] added 6.10% to R161.
Among industrial shares‚ British American Tobacco
[JSE:BTI] shed 3.17% to R415.80 and SABMiller
[JSE:SAB] dropped 3.66% to R361.99.
Among banks‚ Nedbank
[JSE:NED] was off 2.27% to R179.34.