Johannesburg - The industrial sector rallied on Tuesday‚ boosting the broader market‚ as rand weakness continued to support large cap rand hedge stocks such as British American Tobacco.
At 12:30‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was up 0.81% to 41 768 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] blue chip index rallying 0.83%. The industrial index lifted 1.16%‚ as the domestic currency fell to R9.74/$ after the release on Tuesday morning of a weaker than anticipated first quarter GDP print.
“The industrial sector is again leading the pack on the weaker rand. Companies with a diversified geographic footprint will do well in the short term relative to those with largely domestic exposure‚” said Mohammed Nalla‚ head of strategic research at Nedbank Capital.
The seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product at market prices rose at an annual rate of 0.9% in the first quarter‚ compared with an increase of 2.1% during the fourth quarter of last year.
Top European stock markets were firmer at noon‚ with London’s FTSE 100 gaining 1.64%.
Among other individual shares on the JSE‚ Sasol (SOL) was up 2.05% to R446.49 but Sibanye Gold (SGL) shed 2.06% to R7.59‚ while Exxaro (EXX) gained 2.52% to R144.60.
Among industrial stocks‚ British American Tobacco (BTI) was up 2.35% to R577.30 and Richemont (CFR) gained 2.79% to R91.70.
Telkom (TKG) lifted 3.21% to R13.49 and Abil (ABL) recovered 2.40% to R17.10.
Investec Ltd (INL) was up 2.09% to R71.26 and JD Group (JDG) lifted 2.32% to R63.95