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Johannesburg - The JSE was in positive territory on Thursday morning as Wednesdya’s profit-taking gave way to bargain-hunting by investors who saw value in stocks at lower levels.
At 9:27‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was 0.39% firmer at 41 393.19 points‚ with the blue-chip Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index 0.46% stronger at 36 909.4 points.
Gold miners continued to make gains on a higher gold price‚ which was up 1.12% at $1‚406.70/oz at 9:27.
The gold index surged 3.88%‚ followed by resources’ 1.05% rise‚ while retailers dipped 0.3%.
Rand Merchant Bank said in a note that the frenzy in global markets overnight might actually bring some stability to local markets today and even in the future.
“The dollar/rand certainly looks set to tick lower today on the back of a weaker dollar and improved sentiment‚” the bank said.
Leading European share markets were softer‚ weighed down by a sharp drop of more than 5% in Japan’s Nikkei index.
“Continued concerns over both the US Federal Reserve (Fed) tapering off quantitative easing (QE) and slowing global growth remain at the forefront of investors’ minds‚” ETX Capital market strategist Ishaq Siddiqi said in London.
“Traders are cautiously awaiting US GDP (gross domestic product) figures due later this afternoon.
“Strength would surely build a bolder case for the Fed to taper stimulus soon which could unsettle markets in the process‚” he said.
Among individual shares on the JSE‚ Anglo American (AGL) was 1.21% firmer at R230.06 and BHP Billiton (BIL) added 1.15% to R287.57.
ArcelorMittal (ACL) gave back 1.07% to R25.77 after surging more than 4% on Wednesday.
Harmony led the upside among gold stocks‚ soaring 6.68% to R37.55‚ followed by Gold Fields (GFI)‚ up 3.72% to R58.50‚ and AngloGold Ashanti (ANG)‚ up 3.67% at R164.88.
Sibanye Gold (SGL) improved 2.28% to R7.64 after saying it would cut 1 110 jobs in a new deal‚ and not 3‚000 jobs as previously said.
