Johannesburg - The JSE ignored firmer world
markets and was lower in early trade on Friday in what a local trader said
was intraday profit taking on the back of a fall in commodity prices.
At 09:14 the JSE all share index had eased 0.16%, with resources
weakening 0.31%, gold miners giving up 0.88% and platinums edging down
0.21%.
Banks and financials eased 0.14% and 0.15% respectively while
industrials were flat, up 0.01%.
The rand was bid at 7.39 to the dollar from 7.34 just before the JSE
closed on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 044.60 a troy ounce from
$1 049.10/oz just before the JSE's last close, and platinum was at
$1 333.50/oz, from $1 342/oz at its previous close.
"We had good runs the last two or three days. Commodity prices are
slightly lower and now there is some intraday profit taking, mainly among
the resources. It not a big fall though," the trader said.
"For the day we might see some more profit taking, but it's just
intraday," she said.
International markets
Dow Jones Newswires reports that US stocks rose on Thursday as Alcoa
kicked off the earnings season on a positive note, while Macy's, Home Depot
and other discretionary stocks climbed on retailers' first collective same -
store sales gain since August 2008.
Still, the market's major indices didn't end as high as they had been
earlier in the session, as the excitement over the earnings and sales
reports - as well as a bigger-than-expected drop in weekly jobless claims -
seemed to wear off a bit by the end of the day.
The DJIA closed up 61.29 points, or 0.63%, at 9786.87. Home Depot was
one of its biggest gainers, closing up 75 cents, or 2.9%, to 26.89. Alcoa
also closed higher, up 15 cents, or 1.1%, at 14.35, after it posted a
surprising third-quarter profit late on Wednesday, following three quarterly
losses in a row.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 13.6, or 0.64%, to 2123.93. The S&P 500
rose 7.91, or 0.75%, to 1065.48. Its materials and energy sectors saw the
biggest gains as commodities prices rose.
Thursday's earnings and same-store sales results served as a relief to
investors, who had nervously pushed the Dow lower on Wednesday ahead of the
reports. Market watchers fear company and economic fundamentals might not
sustain the near-60% rally in the S&P 500 over the past seven months,
although those worries are being offset by fears of missing out if stocks
continue to climb higher.
"The market was clearly looking for an excuse to go up, and the Alcoa
numbers were definitely a good excuse to rally," said Jonathan Vyorst,
portfolio manager with Paradigm Capital Management. He added, "the retailing
numbers weren't good, they're just not as bad as they could have been."
Asian stock markets are mixed on Friday as investors pulled to the
sidelines, waiting for the US reporting season to get into full swing.
Resource and energy stocks are pacing the gainers for a second day running
even as commodity prices cool off a bit after recent rallies.
The Nikkei ended 1.9% higher and the Hang Seng was last up 0.2%.
European bourses are likely to open lower, pausing after their latest
spate of gains, illustrating that investors are inclined to enter the
weekend with some prudent profit-taking.
- I-Net Bridge