JSE edges higher amid bargain-hunting

Johannesburg - The JSE eked out a marginal gain on Thursday as bargain-hunting crept in and foreign investors returned to the local bourse.

An equity trader said the global economic uncertainty, heightened by disappointing US weekly jobless claims on Thursday, had had little effect on the market despite a lower start on Wall Street.

The JSE all share index closed 0.02% firmer. Gold miners ended flat, resources lost 0.01% and platinum miners fell 0.03%. Banks gained 0.95% and financials rose 0.17%, but industrials fell 0.03%.

The rand was bid at R7.27 to the dollar from R7.30 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at  $1 1214 45 troy ounce from $1 195.64/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 529.50/oz from $1 525/oz before.

The equity dealer said the market was preoccupied with bargain-hunting, which lifted resources stocks and bank counters.

He also said the return of foreign investors to the domestic equities gave support to the market.

But the equity dealer warned that he expected more weakness on concerns over global economic outlook.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that concerns over the pace of the economic recovery sent US stocks lower for a third-straight session on Thursday as a cautionary revenue forecast from Cisco Systems and weaker-than-expected jobs data became the latest signs of slowing growth.

The drop, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 47 points, or 0.5%, to 10 330, pushes stocks deeper into the red for the year.

The decline comes as fears of a double-dip recession have been re-ignited by a spate of weakening economic measures.

In the latest round of data, US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose and eurozone industrial production fell. 

  - I-Net Bridge