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Johannesburg - By midday on Tuesday the JSE was set to end the first quarter of 2015 on a quiet note, as the major indices were by midday only moderately lower than on Monday, when the market made a strong run.
However, it seems pretty clear that the All-share index will end the first three months of the year with a gain of about 6%, if the market does not drop sharply towards the end of the day.
Although the intraday graph of the index was heading south by midday, the index traded in a narrow band of not more than about 200 points or half a percentage point.
On Monday investors used last week’s losses on the JSE to do some bargain hunting, but on Tuesday morning it looked if the market is already preparing for the upcoming Easter weekend when it will be closed on Friday and Monday.
By midday on Tuesday the All-share index was only 0.08% weaker at 52 411 points and the Top 40-index was 0.13% lower at 46 233 points.
The only major index in the black was the Industrial index which gained 0.15%, while the Financial index was 0.02% lower. The Resources index however lost 1.36% and the Gold index dropped 1.36%.
The All-share index started the year at 49 518 points, which meant the return for the first three months will be about 6% if the market stays at more or less the same levels for the rest of the day.
This gain was mainly due to the Financial index which will be about 10% higher over the three months, and the Industrial index which will advance about 6%.
The Financial index started the year at 15 642 points and by midday on Tuesday was trading at 17 277 points, a difference of about 10%.
The Industrial index closed 2014 at 61 989 points and by Tuesday midday was at 65 918 points, about 6% higher.
The resources sector lost about 1.8% in the first quarter, while the Gold index was still about 6% higher despite sharp drops over the past few days.
The strong move in the Industrial index was mainly due to a very strong performance by Naspers [JSE:NPN], which constitutes about 12% of the index. The share price gained another 2.07% on Tuesday morning to trade at a new high of R1 839.46. The stock is 24.2% higher for the year after it closed at R1 515.67 on December 31 2014.
Steinhoff [JSE:SHF] delivered an even more spectacular performance, gaining 34.6% in the first three months. It started the year at R59.09 and by Tuesday midday traded at a new high of R76.14, 2.04% higher than Monday’s close.
In the financial sector Capitec [JSE:CPI] was the star performer. By Tuesday midday it traded another 4.44% higher at a new high of R523.46, more than 72% higher than the R340 at which the share started the year.
Trading in the first quarter was characterised by sharp swings in the prices of resources and gold shares, but overall the losses in the resources sector were limited to about 1.8%. By midday on Tuesday the resources sector traded at 41 533 points after starting the year at 42 269.
Some resources however suffered sharp declines. Kumba [JSE:KIO] recovered somewhat on Tuesday morning and traded 1.24% higher at R157.49, but it started the year at R239.90, 38% higher than on Tuesday morning.
Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] also gained 1.24% to R58.72, but it is about 29% lower than the R75.78 at which it started the year.
The gold sector had a bumpy ride. The Gold index was riding the wave about a month ago when the gold price traded comfortably above $1 200 per ounce; at that stage it was about 37% higher at 1 566 than the opening of 1 145. However, when the dollar’s strong run came to an end the gold price dropped as well as gold share prices.
By Tuesday midday the Gold index was at 1 222, only about 6% higher than the level at the beginning of the year.
AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] is a typical example of the volatility of gold shares. By midday the price was 1.25% lower at R114.66, which meant it dropped about 16% over the last month. It is however still 5% higher for the past three months.
