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Johannesburg - The JSE finished firmer on Thursday, with the local bourse outperforming its global counterparts thanks to local resources, which bolstered the market. London's FTSE, Paris's CAC and Wall Street, which normally give local investors direction, were last trading in negative territory.
At 17:00 local time, the JSE all share index was up 0.46%, with platinum rising 1.56% and resources jumping 0.96%. But gold miners, the only losers for the day, fell 0.45%. Banks firmed 0.47% and financials inched up 0.25%, while industrials were relatively flat (0.06%).
The rand was trading at 6.81 to the dollar from 6.83 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at US$1 381.47 a troy ounce from US$1 378.87/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 814.50/oz from $1 794/oz before.
Trading was choppy today as the domestic market briefly made losses before recovering later in the day, a trader said. The JSE has a huge component of resource counters, which are benefiting from firmer commodity prices. Gold stocks lost ground, however, as the yellow metal's appeal as a safe haven failed to excite investors.
The Spanish and Italian bond auctions "went pretty well", the trader said, and improved sentiments.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks edged lower on Thursday after the number of new workers filing for claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly increased, though, as mentioned, the successful bond auctions in Spain and Italy helped shore up sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 15 points, or 0.1%, to 11 740.
A rush of US economic data on Thursday morning largely fell short of investors' expectations. The number of initial unemployment claims unexpectedly increased by 35 000 to 445 000 in the week ending on January 8, when economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a drop of 2 000 to 407 000.
Separately, US producer prices jumped higher in December, rising a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in December from November. However, stripping out volatile food and energy items, producer prices increased a more contained 0.2% last month. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires were expecting a 0.8% increase in the overall figure. The core index of producer prices came in line with forecasts.
However, the US trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed for the third straight month in November, though the gap with China rebounded.
Successful auctions of euro-zone debt continued to calm some of investors' worries over the precarious state of the region's fiscal stability. The Spanish government sold EUR3bn ($3.9bn) in five-year bonds, though its borrowing costs rose compared with a November auction. Italy also successfully conducted a bond sale.
