Johannesburg – Mining stocks nudged the JSE higher in the opening session on Wednesday‚ bucking the weaker trend in Asia after Japan’s benchmark stock market index dropped 2%.
At 9:37‚ the All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.31% to 40 036.28 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index gaining 0.33% to 35 603.99.
Nilan Morar‚ head of trading at Global Trader Private Broking‚ said: ”There is a fairly decent support for the resources sector at the moment but the sentiment remains fragile as we continue to seek direction from overseas markets.”
RMB analysts said in a note that US politics remained a drag on market sentiment but Republicans in Congress have pushed for a temporary lifting of the debt ceiling. “Once again this only delays the day of reckoning but for now is a positive in that it removes some uncertainty.”
In Asia‚ Japan’s Nikkei ended 2.08% weaker while the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index was down 0.15% at 9:37.
On the JSE‚ resources group BHP Billiton (BIL) was up 0.92% to R295.10‚ Aquarius Platinum (AQP) gained 1% to R10.10 and Gold Fields (GFI) lifted 1.11% to R108.90.
Vodacom (VOD) was down 1.25% to R123.50‚ while Discovery (DSY) gained 1.61% to R64.98 and Naspers (NPN) garnered 1% to R548.14.