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“It was a pretty flat day today‚ but market sentiment was positive. Good US job numbers helped reduce the need for a third round of quantitative easing a bit‚” said Gerhard Lampen‚ head of Sanlam iTRADE.
“Quantitative easing is not going to do too much for the economy ... the aim is to keep asset prices high. When the US Federal Reserve is talking about monetary easing‚ share prices rise‚ so talking about it is doing the job‚ without them actually implementing any stimulus. If the Dow Jones Index stays above 13 000 points the Fed will not be worried enough to do anything - they will only act if equity markets fall‚” he added.
Traders worldwide are also awaiting more detail from the European Central Bank (ECB) on its latest plan to address the region’s debt crisis amid improved global risk sentiment‚ which has pushed global markets higher.
At 17:00 local time the JSE closed up 0.05% at 35 487.26 points‚ with the resources index adding 1.13% and the gold index shedding 1.45%.
Among the big movers‚ Anglo American Limited [JSE:AGL] gained R7.33‚ or 2.98%‚ to R253.33 and BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] added R3.24‚ or 1.31%‚ to R250.04. Lonmin [JSE:LON] lifted R3.89‚ or 4.15%‚ to R97.63 and Aquarius [JSE:AQP] added 21 cents‚ or 4.59%‚ to R4.79.
Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited [JSE:HAR] shed R1.71‚ or 2.09%‚ to R80.03 and Gold Fields Limited [JSE:GFI] gave up R2.01‚ or 1.82%‚ to R108.49.
Coal of Africa Limited [JSE:CZA] was up 16 cents or 4.58%‚ to R3.65 after the company announced it had raised $44m through an equity placement to fund the ramp-up of its Vele Colliery in Limpopo.
Palabora Mining Company Limited [JSE:PAM] closed R9.30‚ or 9.66%‚ lower at R87.00. The company reported a 55.9% drop in headline earnings per share for the six months ended June 2012 to 697 cents.
