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Johannesburg - The JSE opened slightly firmer on Friday
morning as the market came back from its softer levels.
A local trader said: "We've opened up slightly firmer,
although it's not really convincing. The Telkom [JSE:TKG] cautionary has come
through and the market is still trying to digest this.
"Other than that it really is a mixed bag. The market
is likely to be sort of flattish today. I won't be surprised to see a weaker
close today"
By 09:07 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index took
up 0.12%. Gold picked up 0.56%, while platinum miners generated 0.26%.
Resources and financials were flat with (0.08%) and (-0.02) respectively. Banks
declined 0.31%, however industrials lifted 0.22%.
The rand was bid at R7.85 to the dollar, from R7.90 at the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold traded at $1 675.15 a troy ounce from $1 662.03/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 544.70/oz, from US$1 532.70/oz previously.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that Asian stock markets were
lower on Friday after a downgrade of Spain's long-term sovereign credit rating
rekindled concern about eurozone debt problems, with exporters and resources
stocks leading the region's declines.
Singapore's central bank earlier on Friday eased monetary
policy for the first time in over two years. The widely expected easing comes
on the heels of a surprise interest rate cut by Indonesia's central bank this
week, and underlines concern that the west's deepening debt and economic
problems could severely hurt growth in many of Asia's export-dependent
economies.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded Spain a notch on Thursday, citing increasingly unpredictable financing conditions, that could squeeze a private sector already pressured by lacklustre growth.
European bourses are likely to nudge higher on Friday, at
least temporarily, while markets await more news on the eurozone sovereign debt
problems ahead of meetings of the Group of 20 industrial and developing
nations.
Investors are questioning recent efforts by eurozone
policymakers to tackle the debt crisis. Traders say the market was hoping for
more details when the European Union outlined a plan to recapitalise the
region's banks. It leaves more unanswered than answered questions, said Credit
Suisse. "We think funding costs will be structurally higher for banks as a
consequence of less valuable too-big-to-fail guarantees."
Fitch Ratings did little to help sentiment surrounding the banking system, as it slashed ratings on Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group after determining they are less likely to receive UK government support in the future.
US stock futures are mixed on Friday after the financial sector led stocks lower on Thursday following less-than-stellar results from JP Morgan Chase, while strength in technology shares limited the broader market's losses.
