Johannesburg – Platinum stocks gave the JSE a boost on Tuesday morning‚ due to a much stronger platinum price‚ after the sector was hard hit by mining woes last year. Market participants are also keenly awaiting mining figures due at 11:30am this morning.
At 9:30am‚ the All Share [JSE:J203] index was up by 0.26% to 40‚249.38 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index adding 0.31% to 35‚782.65 points. The platinum index surged by 3.02%‚ after the price of the metal jumped from $1 651 to $1 700 overnight.
On the release of mining production figures Absa Capital released the following note: “We expect a slight improvement from the 7.7% year-on-year decline registered in October‚ but the upside may be limited by a high base. While some categories may improve on rising global demand‚ recovery from mining disruptions usually takes some time.”
The National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) plans to protest today against the 16% annual electricity price increase Eskom has applied for over the next five years.
“Nersa is currently holding public hearings to discuss the price increase‚ which could be lowered towards something more in line with CPI inflation. Although the 16% rise will probably translate into an unchanged year-on-year rise in the CPI basket‚ its contribution to the headline figure will be amplified‚ as electricity’s weight in the basket will rise from January onwards‚” Absa Capital said.