JSE rides positive global wave

Johannesburg - The JSE remained in positive territory by noon on Friday with resources keeping the bourse afloat in what a local trader said was on continued positive sentiment from earnings in the US.

At 12:00 the JSE all share index had collected 0.30%, with resources up 0.55%. Platinum and gold miners were flat, down 0.07% and 0.05% respectively.

Banks were down 0.94% and financials weakened 0.48%, but industrials edged up 0.47%.

The rand was bid at R7.42 to the dollar from R7.47 just before the JSE closed on Thursday. Gold was quoted at $1 061.40 a troy ounce from $1 056.42/oz just before the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 369/oz, from $1 362.50/oz at its previous close.

"We have remained slightly up on the market. We saw a very strong close in the US market yesterday. Sentiment remains positive," the trader said.

"The dollar is weakening continuously and the gold price and the prices of metals and commodities are stronger. When we see dips here and there, we see some buyers come back. It's mixed on our market. Some shares are recovering after some profit taking and a couple of shares are slightly off.

"We are going on the back of steady world markets. The trend is still on the back of positive sentiment on the earnings out of the US," he said.

"We have seen some wild swings intraday, but it doesn't change the trend. It's difficult to say what will happen because the volatility is still there. But at this point the dollar looks like it's weakening again. I would think this would remain the trend toward the end of the week, but we might see the market fluctuate towards the end of the day," he added.

- I-Net Bridge