JSE buoyed by commodities

Johannesburg - South African stocks ended more than 360 points higher on Wednesday amid higher metal prices which fed stronger resources.

At 17:00 the JSE all share index had added 1.43%, with resources gaining 1.83%, gold counters 3.42% higher and platinum miners firming 2.95%.

Banks collected 1.28%, financials put on 1.22% and industrials were up 1.10%.

The rand was bid at 7.33 to the dollar from 7.40 when the JSE closed on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $1 016.70 a troy ounce from $995.50/oz at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 335.50/oz, from $1 323/oz at its previous close.

A local trader said: "Platinum and gold prices have helped to push resources stocks, and gold miners are our best performers of the day.

"Futures closing out tomorrow is also adding current support to the market."

Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks held near break-even on Wednesday, supported by a strong reading of industrial production but burdened by a downgrade of Verizon Communications that hurt the telecommunications sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently up 18 points, or 0.2%, at 9 701.85, led by a 3.4% gain in industrial bellwether General Electric.

"We believe that the business market continues to worsen and is unlikely to improve by 2010. We also expect a slowdown in consumer metrics in the third quarter," UBS said in its report.

Those comments hinted at glum expectations for the broader US economy. However, big-picture data released on Wednesday were generally favourable.

The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production jumped 0.8% in August as factories boosted production of cars, machinery, food products, clothing and other goods. The latest report was slightly better than analysts expected.

In other data on Wednesday, the consumer-price index rose 0.4% in August, the Labour Department said on Wednesday, in line with the expectations of economists. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 0.1%, as expected. Despite the monthly increase in the overall index, consumer prices were down 1.5% compared to one year ago.

- I-Net Bridge