Johannesburg - The JSE tilted higher at the opening bell on
Thursday‚ extending gains from the previous day‚ amid relatively strong
showings in the mining and banking sectors.
At 9:42am‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.20%
at 37‚025.52‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J203] nudging up 0.22% at
32‚832.90. Platinum shares lifted 0.87%‚ banks were up 0.83% and resources
gained 0.62%.
“The market sentiment is getting somewhat better compared to
earlier in the week. Commodity prices are staging a turnaround for the better.
China’s flash manufacturing data seem to have taken fear and speculation out of
the market that the country is in for a hard landing‚” said Devin Shutte‚ a
trader at stockbrokerage‚ Newstrading.
Major European stock market benchmarks were marginally
firmer in early trade‚ with London’s FTSE 100 gaining 0.17%.
In Asia‚ Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 1.13% firmer.
Locally‚ markets are awaiting Thursday’s medium-term budget policy statement‚ while major international data releases due on Thursday include UK third-quarter gross domestic product. On the US corporate earnings front‚ technology bellwether Apple is due to release quarterly results.