Johannesburg - After a tentative start‚ the JSE share market
picked up pace at noon on Friday‚ boosted by strong performances in the
financial and banking sectors‚ with Nedbank Group [JSE:NED] reaching a fresh
record high‚ as global risk appetite improved. Gold shares put up a strong
showing as well.
Leading European markets extended their gains at noon‚ ahead
of US monthly jobs report this afternoon.
At 12:49 local time‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was
up 0.37% to 35‚163‚14 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index
also up 0.39% to 30‚938.37 points.
Among the top movers‚ Anglo Platinum [JSE:AMS] was up R6.61
or 1.57%‚ to R428.97 but Aquarius Platinum [JSE:AQP] lost 16 cents‚ or 3.48%‚
to R4.44.
In industrials‚ Barloworld [JSE:BAW] shed R2.66‚ or 3.24%‚
to R79.34‚ while Richemont [JSE:CFR] was up 99 cents‚ or 2.13%‚ to R47.50.
Nedbank was up R3.90‚ to R187.19‚ FirstRand [JSE:FSR] gained
43 cents‚ to R28.33 and MMI Holdings [JSE:MMI] climbed 26 cents‚ to R19.01.
Sappi [JSE:SAP] was down 25 cents‚ to R24.15 after the pulp
and paper producer reported a loss of 20 US cents per share for the quarter
ended June 2012 after a loss per share of 13 cents for the corresponding period
a year ago and a profit of 11 cents per share in the March 2012 quarter.