Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The All-share index on JSE raced on Monday morning to well above the level of 53 000 points to yet another intraday record, before markets decided to take a breather.
This was in line with European markets, which were also steady in early trading on Monday, as investors awaited the eurozone finance ministers' meeting in Brussels to see if common ground would be found with Greece's new government. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares hit a seven-year high on Friday.
On Sunday, Greece said it was confident of reaching agreement in negotiations with its eurozone partners but reiterated it would not accept harsh austerity strings in any debt pact.
It was expected that local investors on the JSE would take a breather after the All-share index hit new records on Thursday and Friday, each time smashing the previous day’s record.
By midday on Monday, the All-share index was only 0.03% lower than Friday’s record close on 52 952 points. The index initially rose to above 53 350 before it started to move lower, but recovered somewhat just before midday.
At that stage the Top 40-index was only 0.07% higher on 46 771 points on the back on moderate improvements by the Industrial index (0.14%) and the Resources index (0.19%). The Financial index lost 0.53% and the Gold index 0.62% despite the gold price increasing to $1 234 per fine ounce.
The JSE’s strong performance last week was mainly driven by overseas investors utilising the cheap cash made available by central banks' stimulatory measures, as the local picture remain gloomy with load shedding and political uncertainty.
The JSE also followed in the footsteps of strong overseas markets, with Wall Street recovering strongly on Friday after starting 2015 with the biggest monthly drop in a year. The Standard & Poor’s index closed on a new high.
Wall Street was supported by strong fourth-quarter US company earnings and signs of an overall improving economy, alongside what appears to be the start of a bottoming in crude oil prices.
Oil prices steadied further on Monday morning to above $60 per barrel for Brent crude as Japan's economy emerged from recession in the final quarter of last year and strong demand for refined products translated into healthy orders for crude.
Sasol’s [JSE:SOL] share price however did not respond to the oil price on Monday morning and was at midday 0.45% lower on R475.42. The share price had a strong recovery run recently and now trades R110 higher than the 52-week low of R365.10 which was reached as recently as January 14 this year. It rose 17.9% over the last month.
The same can be said of BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL], another oil and gas producer listed on the JSE, which traded 0.4% lower on R280.53. The share gained 20.2% over the last 30 days and is now R59 higher than the 52-week low of R221.82, which was also reached on January 14.
In the platinum sector Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] had a nice run on Monday, and at midday it was 3.36% higher on R391.00. Implats [JSE:IMP], however, lost 0.25% to R78.80.
In the retail sector, Woolworths [JSE:WHL] continued to build on the strong gains of last week, with the share price gaining another 2.38% to trade at a new intraday record of R92.65.
Woolworths, which also operates in Australia, posted double-digit earnings growth on Thursday last week. “We favour Woolwoths now as the best entry into what is now Southern Hemisphere retail," said Sasha Naryshkine, a fund manager at Vestact in a note.
Lewis Stores [JSE:LEW] also reached a new intraday record of R93.20, before the run in the share price lost steam. By midday on Monday, it was 1.12% lower on R89.36.
Media giant Naspers [JSE:NPN] was 1.27% higher on R1 636.00.
