Johannesburg - The JSE edged 131 points higher in
early trade on Wednesday with resources leading the upside in the wake of a
slip in the US dollar, a local equities trader said.
At 09:18 the JSE all share index had collected 0.51%, with resources
adding 1.38%, platinum producers up 1.07% and gold miners firming 5.59%.
Banks were flat, down 0.08%, as were financials, down 0.02%, and
industrials weakened 0.21%.
The rand was bid at 7.76 to the dollar from 7.85 when the JSE closed on
Tuesday. Gold was quoted at $1 083.50 a troy ounce from $1 061.40 at the
JSE's last close, and platinum was at $1 355.50/oz, from $1 353/oz at
its previous close.
"We are up this morning. The resources are looking better. The dollar
took a slide overnight and pushed up some of the resource prices," the
trader said.
"Gold stocks are one of the biggest gainers and they are pushing the
market up a lot this morning, they are a big contribution to the gains."
"For the rest of the day I think we are likely to move sideways from
here. I expect it to be a low volume day," he said.
Dow Jones Newswire reported that a buyout by Warren Buffett's Berkshire
Hathaway had Burlington Northern and a bevy of other transport stocks
rallying on Tuesday, although analyst-induced declines for Intel, SanDisk
and other chip stocks kept any market gains muted.
For Tuesday, the DJIA closed down 17.53 points, or 0.18%, to 9771.91,
marking its second decline in three sessions.
Aside from the concern about the technology sector, the big news on the
session was Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway's agreement to acquire control of
Burlington Northern Santa Fe in a deal that values the railroad operator at
$34bn, plus $10bn in debt.
The move for transports came despite a nearly 2% gain for crude oil
prices that helped energy and materials stocks finish in the green.
Other indexes also fared better than the broad Dow, with the Standard &
Poor's 500 up 2.53, or 0.24%, to 1045.41. The Nasdaq Composite rose 8.12, or
0.40%, to 2057.32.
Despite the slight gains, however, market participants noted that a bevy
of economic concerns remain hanging over the stock market this week.
Wednesday will mark the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting of the
Federal Open Market Committee. In addition, each of the next three sessions
will provide data points on the current health of the labour market.
Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Wednesday, with gold miners
outperforming, although many investors were on the sidelines ahead of the
results of the Fed's policy meeting.
In Japan, the Nikkei ended 0.4% higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was
last up 1.6%.
European stock markets are set to open higher after markets fell sharply
on Tuesday, while investors renew doubts about the strength of the global
recovery.
- I-Net Bridge