Johannesburg - The JSE continued to benefit from
firm global markets and improved liquidity, and ended 342 points higher on
Thursday with traders warning that the market was getting to levels where
there would be a pullback and some profit taking.
At 17:00 the JSE all share index had added 1.34%, with resources
collecting 0.40%. However, gold counters eased 0.17% and platinum miners
weakened 0.34%.
Banks rose 3.81%, financials added 2.56% and industrials put on 1.78%.
The rand was bid at 7.38 to the dollar from 7.33 when the JSE closed on
Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1 017.37 a troy ounce from $1 016.70/oz
at the JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 349/oz, from $1 342/oz
at its previous close.
"We ended firmly higher. We had some figures in the States and they
looked quite positive, markets are holding pretty well and we are following
those markets," one trader said.
"The dollar has remained weak, the momentum is continuing. The Dow is
only marginally up at the moment, but after the good gains last night, it's
still looking good. Europe also remained strong. Sentiment still looks
positive. The rand is strong against a weak dollar.
"We are starting to see a few cases where there are some pullbacks from
higher levels. With the futures close-out behind us now, we will have to
wait and see. Liquidity is in the system and is pushing us higher on the
back of better economic data," he said.
"But as always, we can get overdone and will see a bit of a pullback,"
he added.
"We ended in the black today. It's a bit of a fairy tale at the moment,
I would be careful and wouldn't commit all my money to this market," another
trader said.
"We're looking very strong, but we will have to wait and see. Volumes
are also very misleading because we had the futures close-out," he said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US stocks were flat on Thursday
morning, extending a recent trend that has often led to strong daily
finishes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently down 0.8 point at 9 790.95,
with General Electric up 1.3%.
GE shares have been hot lately thanks to upbeat analyst comments and
strong data on US industrial activity. They were boosted further on Thursday
by reports that GE will not bid on a 20% stake of its NBC Universal unit
that is up for sale by minority stakeholder Vivendi SA. NBC is instead
likely to do an initial public offering, according to television and wire
reports.
The Dow is attempting to extend a three-day winning streak during which
it has gotten off to a weak start each day only to finish strong.
Other indices were also little changed. The Nasdaq Composite Index was
down 0.2%. The S&P 500 was down 0.1%.
Though most economic news has been favourable for stocks lately, the
latest data were mixed. Housing starts rose a less-than-expected 1.5%
compared with the prior month, the Commerce Department reported, as single-family home construction fell and groundbreakings on new apartment buildings
rebounded. Permits for new buildings climbed 2.7%. Economists had expected
permits to rise by 4.6%.
On a more upbeat note, the number of workers filing new claims for
jobless benefits fell by 12 000 last week to 545 000. Economists had
expected an increase in claims.
The Djia had last collected 0.29%.
- I-Net Bridge