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Johannesburg - A strong performance by global markets gave the JSE another boost on Wednesday, and most of the major indices were higher.
Investors worldwide are still waiting for Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s testimony before the US Congress later in the day, in which she is expected to paint a rosy picture of the US and global economy.
Asian shares were higher in morning trade and the European markets also opened strongly on Wednesday, giving the industrial sector on the JSE a boost as the big dual-listed shares on the local market are also listed in Europe.
The result was that the All-share index at mid-morning was already 0.65% higher at 52 717 points, while the Top 40 index was 0.70% up at 46 517 points. These gains were mostly the result of the Industrial index trading 0.74% higher.
The Financial index was 0.74% higher after the rand stabilised somewhat against the greenback, which lost momentum after a strong run on Tuesday; the local unit traded at R13.47 to the dollar after two days of losses.
The dollar was supported earlier this week by expectations that Yellen would indicate further rate hikes this year, but since then other Fed officials have dumped cold water on these expectations. Neel Kashkari, governor of the Federal Reserve in Mineapolis, said he finds it hard to believe that the US economy is in danger of overheating when wage growth is so low.
Traders trimmed expectations of a rate hike by the end of the year, with dollar interest rate futures pricing in about a 55% chance compared to about 60% earlier.
Naspers [JSE:NPN] set the tone in the industrial sector, gaining 0.95% to R2 607.49. The stock is still 7.68% lower over the past 30 days after a correction, but is 23.2% stronger over 90 days. Richemont [JSE:CFR] was 0.83% higher at R109.10.
Telecommunications shares were in big demand and both MTN [JSE:MTN] and Vodacom [JSE:VOD] made gains. MTN was 1.74% higher at R117.82, but Vodacom lifted only 0.4% to R169.07. Vodacom is however more than 14% higher over the past 90 days, while MTN lost 3% over the same period.
Woolworths [JSE:WHL], which lost more than 6% over the past seven days as investors expect the company to announce poor results due to the depressed economy, was 0.75% higher at R59.25 as bargain hunters were buying shares at the lower levels.
The share prices of the four big banks were all higher by mid-morning in busy trade. Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] traded 1.56% higher at R146.81 and Nedbank [JSE:NED] gained 1.27% to R207.69. Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] was 1.74% stronger at R141.54 and FirstRand [JSE:FSR] added 0.86% to R47.91.
The Resources index was only 0.40% higher, with Anglo American [JSE:AGL] trading 0.79% higher at R191.60 and BHP [JSE:BIL] gaining only 0.14% to R221.85.
The platinum price, which lost more than 13% over the past three months, recovered on Wednesday, trading 1.17% higher at $905.50. There was however mixed reaction from platinum shares.
Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] was 1.72% stronger at R307.80, but Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] gained only 0.11% to R35.43. Lonmin [JSE:LON] was 0.09% softer at R11.15 and Royal Bafokeng Platinum [JSE:RBP] lost 2.97% to R32.02.
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