Johannesburg - The JSE opened a little higher before turning negative within an hour of trade on Wednesday in a sign of consolidation after setting a record closing high on Tuesday.
At 9:31‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.20% at 41 732.21 points‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] blue chip index slipping 0.35% to 37 173.18.
The all-share has rallied over 7% this month‚ benefiting from good performance in the industrial and financial sectors.
Among the stocks in focus‚ Lewis Group (LEW) surged as much as 12% after the furniture retailer reported a 13.8% rise in full year profit to March.
“After the scare from African Bank Investments that hurt retailers and banks‚ Lewis reported decent results which should provide some relief to banks‚ credit providers and furniture‚” said Paul Hansen‚ portfolio manager at Stanlib.
At 9:31 Lewis was up 10.31% to R57.37 and JD Group (JDG) had gained 5.97% to R31.58.
Major European stock exchanges were slightly weaker in early trade‚ with London’s FTSE 100 edging down 0.23% but in the East Japan’s Nikkei 255 closed up 1.60%.
Among other individual shares on the JSE‚ Lonmin (LON) fell 1.13% to R38.46 and AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) was down 1.03% to R156.39.
African Bank Investments (ABL) was up 1.16% to R17.40 and Capitec (CPI) added 1.72% to R199. Investec Ltd (INL) was up 1.18% to R72.17.