Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The JSE was flat in early morning trade on Wednesday with banks and retailers again providing support as was the case on Tuesday‚ while gold counters weighed.
At 9:34am‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was flat (0.05%) at 40 683.28‚ banks lifted 0.35% and retailers added 1%‚ while bullion counters gave back 0.43%.
In the east the Japanese Nikkei 225 surged 3.77% due to a weaker yen after the announcement on Wednesday morning that the governor of the Bank of Japan is going to resign early. The Hong Kong Hang Send index was up 0.73% at 9:19.
Global markets reversed most of Monday's losses on Tuesday‚ Rand Merchant Bank said in a morning note.
“Gone is the talk of Spanish and Italian political problems. The attention instead has been on the continued positive run in the data — service sector PMI figures from Asia‚ Europe and the US all inspired yesterday. We could receive some relief from the volatility today given the empty data and events calendar. From a rand perspective‚ this may allow an underlying positive trend to shine through‚” RMB said.
“The South African news and macro-economic data flow was also a little more positive. According to news reports from the Mining Indaba in Cape Town‚ the mining minister said the government will act responsibly towards mining companies to overcome the challenges in the industry. She said further that the government was looking at ways to ensure that the country remains a preferred destination for mining companies‚” the bank said.
On the JSE ArcelorMittal (ACL) shed 2.59% to R35.73‚ after the steelmaker on Wednesday morning reported a headline loss per share of 129 cents for the year ended December compared with a loss of 13 cents for the financial year ended December 2011.
Vodacom (VOD) slumped 3.26% to R117.40 after it said on Wednesday that for the quarter ended December‚ its group active customers were up 12.2% to 51 million. Group revenue was up 1.7% to R18.294bn‚ while excluding the sale of Gateway Carrier Services and the effect of movements in foreign currency‚ revenue was up 4.8%.
Pulp and paper producer Sappi (SAP) dropped 4.03% to R29.52 after it reported on Wednesday morning earnings per share of $0.03 for the quarter ended December compared with $0.09 in the same quarter of 2011.
In construction Group Five (GRF) regained some of yesterday’s losses‚ gorwing 1.22% to R29.10. Basil Read Holdings (BSR) continued its slide‚ down a further 2.39% to R11.05.
