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Johannesburg - The JSE was stronger on Tuesday morning with
gold miners and resources leading the upside.
“Our markets have been under pressure for the last week‚
especially the mining sector. Gold miners are back up and investors are
returning to the sector after mining stocks have been oversold. There is
speculation that US economic growth is improving and therefore miners will pick
up. Mining stocks are the riskiest asset class followed by commodities. Global
sentiment is more positive and a lot of negative news is overdone‚” said Chris
Wehmeyer‚ stockbroker at PSG Konsult in Pretoria.
At 9.34am the All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.76% at
35‚741.05 points‚ with the gold index adding 1.47% and resources up 1.25%.
Asian markets were seen softer with the Nikkei closing 0.16%
weaker and the Hang Seng Index was down 0.21% just before its close. In London
the FTSE 100 was 0.44% stronger in early trade.
Rand Merchant Bank said in a morning note that the Lonmin
Marikana mine shootings remained a lingering negative.
“The issue remains in the international press. Friday’s
foreign flows data‚ meanwhile‚ showed foreigners dumping South African bonds‚
although not our equities strangely enough. The negative effects should‚
nevertheless‚ ease the further we get away from the event.”
“Behind the scenes there has been massive speculation about
what the European Central Bank (ECB) is planning in terms of bond buying.
Rumours that it is planning to cap eurozone sovereign yields through promising
unlimited purchases have been denied. German authorities continue to provide
mixed views on what should be done. The German ECB director has come out in
support of bond buying and the Bundesbank strongly against. Spanish bond yields
have dropped to two-month lows due to all the talk. The ECB meeting on
September 6 is going to be a big event‚” the bank added.
Local counters that saw good upward movement on Tuesday
morning‚ were Anglo American [JSE:AGL] up R2.78‚ at R254.37‚ BHP Billiton
[JSE:BIL] rose R3.42‚ to R257.50 and Sasol [JSE:SOL] gained R4.59‚ at R354.31.
Among gold miners AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] was up R3.73‚
at R285.48‚ GoldFields [JSE:GFI] gained R2.07‚ at R114.19 and Harmony Gold
Mining Company [JSE:HAR] added R1.08‚ at R76.50.
Shoprite Holdings [JSE:SHL] gained R1.77‚ or 1.13%‚ to R158.00. The retailer on Tuesday reported a 19.6% rise in headline earnings per share to 607.04 cents for the year ended June 2012 from 507.6 cents a year ago.
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