Johannesburg - The JSE lost initial gains to trade a tad weaker at noon‚ as losses in the banking and industrial sectors overshadowed broad gains in the mining space.
At 12:33‚ the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 0.13% to 38 690.39‚ with the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index slipping 0.16% to 34 110.54 points. Banking and industrial indices gave up 1.06% and 0.59% respectively but resources lifted 0.94%.
“While the broader market lacks a clear trend‚ mining shares are finding support on bargain hunting‚” said Greg Davies‚ an equities trader at Cratos Capital.
Vodacom was the star performer among the Top 40 blue-chip index‚ surging almost 6% at some point‚ after the telecoms group said it anticipated its full year profit to March to rise by as much as 6%.
Leading European share markets were off their session highs at noon‚ with London’s FTSE 100 flat (0.04%).
Among individual shares on the JSE‚ Anglo American (AGL) gained 1.29% to R226.87 and BHP Billiton (BIL) lifted 1.79% to R254.48.
Lonmin (LON) was up 2.87% to R37.96 as Gold Fields (GFI) garnered 1.83% to R62.99.
Steel producer ArcelorMittal SA (ACL) was down 3.38% to R25.48.
In industrial sector‚ British American Tobacco (BTI) was down 1.08% to 496.59 and SABMiller (SAB) shed 2.03% to R480.30.