Johannesburg – The JSE was a touch softer at noon but flat on the week as the SA share market struggled to make headway post the US fiscal cliff deal rally last week. There is also some consolidation in the market after that rally.
At 12:27‚ the All Share
[JSE:J203] index was down 0.19% at 40 224.01 points‚ with the top 40 index dipping 0.22%‚ resources down 1.21%‚ while gold stocks recovered 1.38%.
The all share is still 2.50% in the new year‚ led by the platinum sector‚ up 5.66%‚ and resources‚ which have gained 2.81%.
“The platinum market has picked up a lot this week‚ boosted in part by reasonable economic growth prospects in China following the latest economic data releases‚” said Nerina Visser‚ head of Beta Solutions at Nedbank Capital. “The other areas of the market still looked fairly subdued‚ with activity expected to peak next week.”
China's trade surplus increased sharply in December‚ rising to $31.6bn from a $19.6bn surplus in November‚ indicating that the world’s second largest economy is growing after showing signs of a slowdown in recent months.
Leading European shares were mostly flat to slightly lower at noon‚ with London’s FTSE 100 slipping 0.05%.
Among individual shares on the JSE‚ BHP Billiton (BIL) gave up 2.70% to R290.50‚ Impala Platinum (IMP) lost 1.97% to R171.55 but Lonmin (LON) notched up 1.95% to R44.45.
AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) was up 1.86% to R252 but Exxaro Resources (EXX) shed 1.29% to R172.80 Barloworld (BAW) was down 3.50% to R82.70‚ while Investec plc (INP) gained 2.92% to R62.40.
Follow Fin24 on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.