JSE ends on a high note

Johannesburg - South African stocks ended firmer on Wednesday led in main by resources and platinum miners, however the local bourse came off its earlier highs amid a flat US opening.

By 17:00 the JSE all share index was 0.43% higher, with resources up 0.42%, platinum miners collected 1.07%, but gold miners lost 0.50%. Banks were marginally up at 0.12%, financials added 0.23%, while industrials collected 0.53%.

The rand was bid at R7.46 to the dollar from R7.45 when the JSE closed on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $1 117.22 a troy ounce from $1 111.24 at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 586/oz, from $1 560/oz at the bourse's previous close.

A local equities dealer said: "We were initially higher on opening, tracking a firm US close and stronger Asia. We also saw a rally overnight in miners with an increase in commodity prices.

"We finished a little way off our earlier highs with the US generally flat at opening. Jobs data in the US came in slightly better than expected, however there is still some concern out there."

Dow Jones Newswires reports that US stocks were slightly lower on Wednesday as a disappointing outlook and earnings from Pfizer weighed on the health-care sector, although a smaller-than-expected drop in private-sector jobs kept the declines in check.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell four points to 10,294 in early trading.

Wednesday's action comes after stocks marched higher on Tuesday thanks to strong housing data, putting the market on its best two-day winning streak in nearly three months. The two-day rally followed a late-January drubbing that came despite a number of earnings and economic reports that were above analysts' estimates.

Wednesday morning, payroll giant Automatic Data Processing and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers reported private-sector jobs in the US fell by 22 000 in January, the smallest drop since February 2008 and smaller than the 30 000 decline economist had expected. Service-sector jobs added 38 000, the second increase in a row, while factory jobs dropped another 60 000 last month.

The ADP report precedes Friday's more closely followed nonfarm payroll data from the government. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect that report to show January payrolls were unchanged, following the 85 000 jobs lost in December. The January unemployment rate is projected to edge up to 10.1% from 10.0%.

European markets welcomed the European Commission's backing of Greece's budget-reduction programme. The European Commission said it "fully supports" Greece's efforts to slash its budget deficit over the next three years but will monitor the government closely to ensure reforms are put in place.

- I-Net Bridge