JSE flat, buoyed by gold price

Johannesburg - The JSE was flat in the morning session on Friday, buoyed, however, by a bounce in the gold price. The market is expected to see sideways movement, with very little economic data to drive direction.

At 09:16 the JSE all share index was flat, down 0.25%, with resources inching 0.14% lower, along with platinum miners, down 0.53%. Gold producers, however, added 1.70%.

Banks were down 0.47%, financials declined 0.38% and industrials were down 0.42%.

The rand was bid at 7.50 to the dollar, from 7.52 when the JSE closed on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 145.87 a troy ounce from $1 136.35 at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 443/oz, from $1 449/oz at its previous close.

A local trader said: "We are flat this morning, but saw a bounce in the gold price, performing better from last night, which is lending support to the market. Markets are expected to see sideways movement today, with no economic data to speak of.

"If the dollar strengthens, we may see some sell offs in the market," he said.

Dow Jones Newswire reported that European stocks were called to open higher on Friday, as traders look to turn Thursday's sell off into a quick buying opportunity, said Ben Potter at IG Markets. He called London's FTSE 100 up 31 points at 5 299. However, the potential to keep booking profits is there, as "the forthcoming weekend break, a potentially slow end to the month owing to US holidays and the risk associated with next week's UK GDP revision could keep any gains in check," said Potter. He added with little on the economic calendar, it seemed unlikely any meaningful direction would be brought to the table.

- I-Net Bridge