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Johannesburg - Share prices on the JSE seemed to be looking for direction on Monday morning, as all the major indices were quite volatile moving up and down in a band of about 0.75%.
After Friday’s sell-off, which was attributed by some commentators to concerns about values, most of the early Monday morning trade was dominated by speculators seeking buying and selling opportunities.
By midday the All-share was only 0.38% higher at 49 116. At that stage the intraday graph showed the index was recovering for the second time after strong initial gains which lost steam pretty rapidly. The highs and lows were about 0.75% apart.
The Top 40-index, which is still trading below the important resistance level of 43 600, was at that stage 0.47% higher at 43 197.
There was strong foreign interest in South African bonds on Monday, with the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 at the best level in six weeks. The foreign interest also supported the rand which was at the strongest level this year.
READ: Rand, bonds boosted by renewed risk appetite
Some of that foreign interest probably spun off into the share market, with a big multinational like SABMiller [JSE:SAB] strengthening more than 2% at one stage.
The interest in emerging markets was supported by expectations that the US will hold off hiking interest rates. There are also expectations of stimulus programmes in Europe and China, although it seems expectations on the European support programmes may be too optimistic.
Although the latest US jobs data released on Friday showed that the US economy created more than 250 0000 jobs last months and the jobless rate decreased to 5.6%, average wages in the US fell back, reversing the previous month's gain.
Hourly earnings, one sign of the economy's strength, were up 1.7% from a year ago, just keeping up with inflation.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare called the payrolls data "good", but said to Reuters the wage trend "wasn't encouraging at all".
The Fed has indicated that it will consider hiking interest rates if the jobless rate falls below 6%, but is not keen to raise rates before inflation starts increasing and with the pressure on wages, that is unlikely.
SABMiller, a favourite among foreign investors, traded 1.59% higher at R584.75 but at one stage as high R589.81 and as low as R575.60. Its gains helped to pull the Industrial index 0.64% higher, making it the best-performing index of the morning.
Richemont [JSE:CFR] improved steadily throughout morning trade and at midday was 2.1% higher at R103.66.
Naspers [JSE:NPN] was the real volatile share of the morning, with the price moving a few times during the morning between a low of R1 670.09 and a high of R1 692.75, a new intraday 52-week high. At midday on Monday the share was 0.13% lower at R1673.12.
With the gold price still above $1 200 per ounce at $1 224, the Gold index was 2.91% higher with Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] reaching a new 52-week high of R63.61 after gaining another 3.25% on Monday morning. Harmony [JSE:HAR] was 3.73% higher at R39.57 and AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] gained 3.02% to R116.41.
In the resources sector, which was only 0.09% lower by midday, Anglo American [JSE:AGL] fell to below R200 and reached a new 52-week low of R199.65, 1.56% lower than Friday’s close.
Sasol [JSE:SOL] was also on another 52-week low, although the share price lost only 0.18% on Friday morning to trade at R389.29 by midday.
After Friday’s sell-off, which was attributed by some commentators to concerns about values, most of the early Monday morning trade was dominated by speculators seeking buying and selling opportunities.
By midday the All-share was only 0.38% higher at 49 116. At that stage the intraday graph showed the index was recovering for the second time after strong initial gains which lost steam pretty rapidly. The highs and lows were about 0.75% apart.
The Top 40-index, which is still trading below the important resistance level of 43 600, was at that stage 0.47% higher at 43 197.
There was strong foreign interest in South African bonds on Monday, with the yield on the benchmark bond due in 2026 at the best level in six weeks. The foreign interest also supported the rand which was at the strongest level this year.
READ: Rand, bonds boosted by renewed risk appetite
Some of that foreign interest probably spun off into the share market, with a big multinational like SABMiller [JSE:SAB] strengthening more than 2% at one stage.
The interest in emerging markets was supported by expectations that the US will hold off hiking interest rates. There are also expectations of stimulus programmes in Europe and China, although it seems expectations on the European support programmes may be too optimistic.
Although the latest US jobs data released on Friday showed that the US economy created more than 250 0000 jobs last months and the jobless rate decreased to 5.6%, average wages in the US fell back, reversing the previous month's gain.
Hourly earnings, one sign of the economy's strength, were up 1.7% from a year ago, just keeping up with inflation.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare called the payrolls data "good", but said to Reuters the wage trend "wasn't encouraging at all".
The Fed has indicated that it will consider hiking interest rates if the jobless rate falls below 6%, but is not keen to raise rates before inflation starts increasing and with the pressure on wages, that is unlikely.
SABMiller, a favourite among foreign investors, traded 1.59% higher at R584.75 but at one stage as high R589.81 and as low as R575.60. Its gains helped to pull the Industrial index 0.64% higher, making it the best-performing index of the morning.
Richemont [JSE:CFR] improved steadily throughout morning trade and at midday was 2.1% higher at R103.66.
Naspers [JSE:NPN] was the real volatile share of the morning, with the price moving a few times during the morning between a low of R1 670.09 and a high of R1 692.75, a new intraday 52-week high. At midday on Monday the share was 0.13% lower at R1673.12.
With the gold price still above $1 200 per ounce at $1 224, the Gold index was 2.91% higher with Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] reaching a new 52-week high of R63.61 after gaining another 3.25% on Monday morning. Harmony [JSE:HAR] was 3.73% higher at R39.57 and AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] gained 3.02% to R116.41.
In the resources sector, which was only 0.09% lower by midday, Anglo American [JSE:AGL] fell to below R200 and reached a new 52-week low of R199.65, 1.56% lower than Friday’s close.
Sasol [JSE:SOL] was also on another 52-week low, although the share price lost only 0.18% on Friday morning to trade at R389.29 by midday.
