Johannesburg – Mining shares lifted the JSE to another record high on Wednesday. The All Share [JSE:J203]index has gained more than 1% this month contributing to a 20% rally in the year to date.
At 12:33‚ the All Share index was up 0.24% to 38 628.52 points‚ with the Top 40 -(Tradeable) [JSE: J200] index nudging up 0.22% to 34 316.29‚ another record high.
Mohammed Nalla‚ head of strategic research at Nedbank Capital‚ said “The SA share market continues to find momentum on the back of expectations for further monetary policy stimulus from the US Federal Reserve. The US central bank is today expected to announce a further asset purchase programme to replace Operation Twist‚ which expires at the end of this year.”
He also said that the market expected a resolution to the fiscal cliff debate in that country soon.
“As such‚ the wash of international liquidity and optimism has buoyed financial assets despite a bleak underlying economic picture. SA’s fundamentals appear weak‚ but SA continues to benefit from global sentiment leading to strong equity portfolio inflows from last week‚ continuing into this week. This has corresponded with a stronger rand‚” he said.
Leading European markets remained modestly higher‚ with the UK’s FTSE 100 gaining 0.27% by 12.18pm local time.