Johannesburg - The JSE started in the black on
Friday tracking a firm undertone in global markets despite a strong rand
capping mining stocks.
At 09:21 the JSE all share index was up 0.20%, with resources flat, up
0.04%, platinum miners were 0.88% better, but gold stocks declined 0.53%.
Banks gained 0.49%, financials added 0.21%, and industrials picked up
0.36%.
The rand was bid at 7.47 to the dollar, from 7.44 seen at the JSE's
close on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 133.58 a troy ounce from
$1 134.18 at the JSE's last close. Platinum was at $1 580/oz from
$1 573.50/oz at the JSE's last close.
A local equities trader said: "We have seen a good start this morning,
amid a firm undertone in overseas markets, with Asia higher, and the US
closing up.
"The rand has been strong in recent days, which has put a cap on mining,
resources stocks, but overall they have held up pretty well.
"We might see a bit of weakness coming into the local market later on as
people look to close out their positions ahead of the weekend," the trader
said, also noting non-farm payrolls data out in the US later.
Dow Jones Newswires reports European stocks are expected to open
marginally higher on Friday, taking their cue from a late rally on Wall Street.
However, a degree of caution is likely ahead of the release of key US
employment data and as investors await further developments on the Greek
debt situation.
"As always this [US non-farm payrolls] has the potential to define just
how equity markets either side of the Atlantic go into the weekend break,"
said Ben Potter, research analyst at IG Markets.
Potter called London's FTSE 100 index to open up 13 points at 5 540.
The labour market appears to be at an inflection point as it waits for
hiring to resume, said Standard Chartered. "Today's US February nonfarm
payrolls release holds the potential for some excitement given the wild
cards of government census hiring and the snowstorm that struck the US north
east during the survey week," the bank said. It added the market is likely
to shrug off a mild dip in the series due to the weather spillover, but a
very strong number excluding the wild card factors would take the market by
surprise.
The data, released at 13:30 GMT, are expected to show a drop of 75 000,
Standard Chartered said. However, it noted the figures are subject to
significant distortions that may alter the headline number drastically from
the labour market's true path. "The market will look for guidance from the
Bureau of Labour Statistics stripping out these effects to see if the
underlying labour market trend continues to improve." Meanwhile, the
unemployment rate is seen up at 9.8% from 9.7%.
Also on the economic front, UK producer price index and German factory
orders are due at 09:30 GMT and 11:00 GMT, respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 47.38 points, or 0.5%, to
10 444.14.
In Asia, share markets were higher, boosted by US gains, and with stocks
in Tokyo powering higher on hopes the Bank of Japan would ease policy
further. A Nikkei report said the Bank will likely consider more monetary
easing through April, including the expansion of fund-provision measures
introduced in December.
Nevertheless, traders were cautious, unwilling to add significantly to
their portfolios ahead of key US non-farm payrolls data.
Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 2.2%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.2%,
and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.8%.
- I-Net Bridge