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Johannesburg - The JSE continued to rise at noon
on Wednesday as a rally in Anglo American stock drove resources higher.
A PSG Konsult trader said "It's all about the possible deal between Glencore and Xstrata."
He said there was talk of an all share offer that would essentially be a merger. The trader remarked that the move made perfect sense, resulting in a larger firm that would most probably look to buy out Anglo American.
At noon, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index had gained 0.60% at 34 345.02 points. This was after an intraday record for the all share (34 457.21), industrial (36 136.82) and the banking (44 999.38) indices had been reached in the morning session.
Resources were performing, up 1.32%, however platinum shares lessened 1.10%, and gold stocks shed 0.10%.
Industrials added 0.33%, however banks diminished 0.37% and financials were virtually unchanged.
The rand was bid at 7.69 to the dollar from 7.68 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1 748.38 a troy ounce from $1 745.03/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 622/oz, from $1 611/oz before.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks were up a touch overall with a potentially massive deal between Glencore and Xstrata boosting the mining sector, although earnings reports were less well received, with Royal Dutch Shell, AstraZeneca and Deutsche Bank disappointing investors.
Gains were mild as stocks took a breather following a strong rise in equities of late. The main indices rose to three-month highs on Wednesday, largely on strong manufacturing data for the UK, US and China. In addition, traders tend to move to the sidelines ahead of the key nonfarm payrolls data out of the US, due on Friday. The payrolls report is considered a key indicator of the health of the US economy.
Earlier, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1% at 259.70, led higher by miners. The Stoxx Europe 600 basic resources index was up 2.7% after Xstrata announced that it had been approached by Glencore regarding a merger of equals.
At noon local time, London's FTSE 100 was down 0.25% while Paris's CAC-40 was flat (-0.05%).
Negotiations between Greece and its private sector creditors reportedly are close to coming to an agreement. But economist Dermot O'Leary warned, "Greece is far from out of the woods even if agreement on private sector involvement [PSI] is reached and hard default is avoided."
Earlier, Asian stock markets finished higher on Thursday as improved global economic data buoyed sentiment, propelling Hong Kong shares to their highest point for the year.
Investors were encouraged by better manufacturing data from the US, Europe and China, suggesting resilience in the global factory sector.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.76% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 2.0%.
A PSG Konsult trader said "It's all about the possible deal between Glencore and Xstrata."
He said there was talk of an all share offer that would essentially be a merger. The trader remarked that the move made perfect sense, resulting in a larger firm that would most probably look to buy out Anglo American.
At noon, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index had gained 0.60% at 34 345.02 points. This was after an intraday record for the all share (34 457.21), industrial (36 136.82) and the banking (44 999.38) indices had been reached in the morning session.
Resources were performing, up 1.32%, however platinum shares lessened 1.10%, and gold stocks shed 0.10%.
Industrials added 0.33%, however banks diminished 0.37% and financials were virtually unchanged.
The rand was bid at 7.69 to the dollar from 7.68 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $1 748.38 a troy ounce from $1 745.03/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1 622/oz, from $1 611/oz before.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks were up a touch overall with a potentially massive deal between Glencore and Xstrata boosting the mining sector, although earnings reports were less well received, with Royal Dutch Shell, AstraZeneca and Deutsche Bank disappointing investors.
Gains were mild as stocks took a breather following a strong rise in equities of late. The main indices rose to three-month highs on Wednesday, largely on strong manufacturing data for the UK, US and China. In addition, traders tend to move to the sidelines ahead of the key nonfarm payrolls data out of the US, due on Friday. The payrolls report is considered a key indicator of the health of the US economy.
Earlier, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1% at 259.70, led higher by miners. The Stoxx Europe 600 basic resources index was up 2.7% after Xstrata announced that it had been approached by Glencore regarding a merger of equals.
At noon local time, London's FTSE 100 was down 0.25% while Paris's CAC-40 was flat (-0.05%).
Negotiations between Greece and its private sector creditors reportedly are close to coming to an agreement. But economist Dermot O'Leary warned, "Greece is far from out of the woods even if agreement on private sector involvement [PSI] is reached and hard default is avoided."
Earlier, Asian stock markets finished higher on Thursday as improved global economic data buoyed sentiment, propelling Hong Kong shares to their highest point for the year.
Investors were encouraged by better manufacturing data from the US, Europe and China, suggesting resilience in the global factory sector.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.76% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 2.0%.
