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Johannesburg - While Tuesday's poor economic growth figures still send shock waves through the business world, the JSE is still carrying on as if nothing is wrong.
A short run in share prices quickly came to a half in early trade on Wednesday and since then the indices traded in a narrow band close to Tuesday’s closing figures.
By midday the All-share index was virtually unchanged on 49 827 points, while the Top 40-index added only 0.05% to 44 880 points. Most of the major indices only moved marginally, with the exception of the Financial index which was 0.41% higher by lunchtime and the Gold index which lost 1.76%.
The news that the economy contracted in the first quarter with 0.6%, which is much more than almost all economic forecasts, have sparked fears that South Africa might face a recession as it is possible that the negative influence of the protracted strike in the platinum sector can be more severe in the second quarter than it was in the first quarter.
The rand took a beating on this news, but there was little reaction on the share market, although it did seem that the poor economic news forced investors to think again about valuations and that is why the index is still battling to consolidate above the 50 000 level which was breached last week.
The rand traded at R10.49/$ by midday, which is the worst level in three weeks.
There was little other news to influence the markets, although the S&P 500 in New York reached a new record on Tuesday night.
There were also unconfirmed reports On Wednesday that the efforts by the Labour Court to arbitrate a settlement between the platinum producers and striking mining have reached a deadlock.
Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] lost 1.37% to R467.00, but Lonmin [JSE:LON] gained 1.64% to R46.40.
Some of the strong runners of the last few weeks are still reaching new records. MTN [JSE:MTN] warned on Tuesday that the interconnection rates forced upon them by Icasa are causing serious harm to the income of its South African business, but investors shrugged off the news and the share price climbed another 1.12% to yet another record of R226.00.
Investors' love affair with private hospital groups continued as both MediClinic International [JSE:MDC] and Netcare [JSE:NTC] traded at new record levels. Both companies announced very good results recently. MediClinic was 0.75% higher on R83.04, while Netcare rose 0.96% to R28.47.
One would have expected that the prospect of a recession would be bad news for retailers, but these shares reacted very little to the news. Massmart [JSE:MSM] was only 0.16% lower on R137.81 and Shoprite [JSE:SHP] lost only 0.01% to R164.79.
Amongst the banks, Nedbank [JSE:NED] gained 0.94% to R226.70 and Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] lost only 0.11% to R142.55.
A short run in share prices quickly came to a half in early trade on Wednesday and since then the indices traded in a narrow band close to Tuesday’s closing figures.
By midday the All-share index was virtually unchanged on 49 827 points, while the Top 40-index added only 0.05% to 44 880 points. Most of the major indices only moved marginally, with the exception of the Financial index which was 0.41% higher by lunchtime and the Gold index which lost 1.76%.
The news that the economy contracted in the first quarter with 0.6%, which is much more than almost all economic forecasts, have sparked fears that South Africa might face a recession as it is possible that the negative influence of the protracted strike in the platinum sector can be more severe in the second quarter than it was in the first quarter.
The rand took a beating on this news, but there was little reaction on the share market, although it did seem that the poor economic news forced investors to think again about valuations and that is why the index is still battling to consolidate above the 50 000 level which was breached last week.
The rand traded at R10.49/$ by midday, which is the worst level in three weeks.
There was little other news to influence the markets, although the S&P 500 in New York reached a new record on Tuesday night.
There were also unconfirmed reports On Wednesday that the efforts by the Labour Court to arbitrate a settlement between the platinum producers and striking mining have reached a deadlock.
Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] lost 1.37% to R467.00, but Lonmin [JSE:LON] gained 1.64% to R46.40.
Some of the strong runners of the last few weeks are still reaching new records. MTN [JSE:MTN] warned on Tuesday that the interconnection rates forced upon them by Icasa are causing serious harm to the income of its South African business, but investors shrugged off the news and the share price climbed another 1.12% to yet another record of R226.00.
Investors' love affair with private hospital groups continued as both MediClinic International [JSE:MDC] and Netcare [JSE:NTC] traded at new record levels. Both companies announced very good results recently. MediClinic was 0.75% higher on R83.04, while Netcare rose 0.96% to R28.47.
One would have expected that the prospect of a recession would be bad news for retailers, but these shares reacted very little to the news. Massmart [JSE:MSM] was only 0.16% lower on R137.81 and Shoprite [JSE:SHP] lost only 0.01% to R164.79.
Amongst the banks, Nedbank [JSE:NED] gained 0.94% to R226.70 and Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] lost only 0.11% to R142.55.
