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Johannesburg - The JSE ended in the black on
Wednesday on the back of what a local trader said was improved sentiment
following an upgrading of global growth forecasts by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and some buying returning to the markets.
Network connectivity issues caused the JSE to lose three hours of trading time. The network issues started at the opening and interruptions were experienced several times during the morning and early afternoon.
At 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.81% at 34 050.24 points, with banks rising 1.59%, financials added 0.96%, and resources were 0.84% higher.
Industrials gained 0.77%.
Platinum miners were down 1.97%, and gold miners declined 0.80%.
The rand was trading at 7.80 to the US dollar, from 7.79 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $1 644.70 a troy ounce from $1 649.04/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 576/oz, from $1 575/oz at the previous session.
Head of Treasury Strategic Research at Nedbank, Ian Cruickshanks, said the IMF's new global growth outlook of 3.5% from 3.3% was "not a big change but it's the direction that counts".
The IMF's forecasts had offset the disappointment that gripped markets following the recent weaker than expected Chinese growth data, he said.
Cruickshanks added that on the local bourse, better-than-expected retail sales data had lifted retailers on the JSE, and were suggesting that the retail sector was doing better than expected. "Diversified miners are also doing well and banks have had a pretty good run," he said.
US stocks pulled back after a two-day rally as lacklustre earnings reports from a pair of blue-chip technology companies weighed on the major indexes, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 30 points, or 0.2%, to 13 084 in Wednesday morning trade. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gave up three points, or 0.3%, to 1 387, while the Nasdaq Composite lost five points, or 0.1%, to 3 039.
The pullback, which chipped away at the Dow's two-day run of 266 points, was driven in part by the technology sector, as investors digested disappointing earnings reports from International Business Machines and Intel.
Also weighing on investor sentiment was a drop in European stocks. Spain's IBEX-35 slumped 3.3% after the Bank of Spain said commercial banks would need €29.08bn worth of extra provisions and €15.57bn worth of core capital, and the ratio of bad loans held by banks rose to a 17-year high of 8.16% in February.
Another key auction of Spanish government bonds looms on Thursday.
Network connectivity issues caused the JSE to lose three hours of trading time. The network issues started at the opening and interruptions were experienced several times during the morning and early afternoon.
At 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.81% at 34 050.24 points, with banks rising 1.59%, financials added 0.96%, and resources were 0.84% higher.
Industrials gained 0.77%.
Platinum miners were down 1.97%, and gold miners declined 0.80%.
The rand was trading at 7.80 to the US dollar, from 7.79 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $1 644.70 a troy ounce from $1 649.04/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 576/oz, from $1 575/oz at the previous session.
Head of Treasury Strategic Research at Nedbank, Ian Cruickshanks, said the IMF's new global growth outlook of 3.5% from 3.3% was "not a big change but it's the direction that counts".
The IMF's forecasts had offset the disappointment that gripped markets following the recent weaker than expected Chinese growth data, he said.
Cruickshanks added that on the local bourse, better-than-expected retail sales data had lifted retailers on the JSE, and were suggesting that the retail sector was doing better than expected. "Diversified miners are also doing well and banks have had a pretty good run," he said.
US stocks pulled back after a two-day rally as lacklustre earnings reports from a pair of blue-chip technology companies weighed on the major indexes, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 30 points, or 0.2%, to 13 084 in Wednesday morning trade. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gave up three points, or 0.3%, to 1 387, while the Nasdaq Composite lost five points, or 0.1%, to 3 039.
The pullback, which chipped away at the Dow's two-day run of 266 points, was driven in part by the technology sector, as investors digested disappointing earnings reports from International Business Machines and Intel.
Also weighing on investor sentiment was a drop in European stocks. Spain's IBEX-35 slumped 3.3% after the Bank of Spain said commercial banks would need €29.08bn worth of extra provisions and €15.57bn worth of core capital, and the ratio of bad loans held by banks rose to a 17-year high of 8.16% in February.
Another key auction of Spanish government bonds looms on Thursday.
