JSE stays up on commodities

Johannesburg - At 12:09 the JSE all share index had collected 0.81%, with resources adding 1.79%, platinum producers up 2.18% and gold miners firming 6.52%.

Banks were flat, down 0.10%, as were financials, down 0.15%, and industrials edged up 0.25%.

The rand was bid at 7.74 to the dollar from 7.85 when the JSE closed on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $1 092.97 a troy ounce from $1 061.40 at the JSE's last close - having hit a new record of $1 094.10 earlier - and platinum was at $1 363.50/oz, from $1 353/oz at its previous close.

"It all started in US last night with the announcement from Warren Buffett, that supported the market. Eastern markets also turned positive and Europe is up as well. We are following world markets," an equities trader said.

"The dollar weakened and that supports commodity prices. The resources, especially the gold sector, are leading us up."

"For the day, it looks all positive again. We are seeing a rebound after quite a big sell off, we might end positive for the day," he said.

Dow Jones Newswire reports the FTSE stayed firm as investors buy on higher US stock futures, and upbeat corporate earnings from the likes of Aviva +6.1%, Marks & Spencer +5.4% and Next +5.2%. Traders now digest UK PMI services data, which rose more than expected to its highest level since August 2007. "The outcome was stronger than anticipated and it suggests that the UK economy might have finally emerged from the recent deep recession in 4Q," said Newedge Group.

"It's quite an encouraging report, especially if we consider that the UK banking sector is still under pressure and tight credit conditions don't make life easy to operators in the services sector," added Newedge.

The FTSE 100 was last up 0.57%.

US stocks are called to open higher on Wednesday, supported by dollar weakness, said David Morrison at GFT. He called the DJIA up 50 points and the S&P 500 up 6 points. Traders are repositioning themselves ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting, betting there will be no change in the wording of the statement, he said. The ADP employment report at 13:15 GMT will be closely watched, ahead of Thursday's weekly jobless numbers and non-farm payrolls on Friday. "Any surprises in the numbers could spark big moves in equity markets," said Morrison, adding "the recent increase in the Volatility Index shows increased nervousness amongst investors."

- I-Net Bridge