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Johannesburg - Share prices were higher on a wide front on Monday and the All-share index was 0.63% higher at 55 277 points by mid-morning, improving on the previous high of 55 188 points set on April 26 2015.
This put the index on a
new all-time high and means the market is now again at the level it was on 27
months ago.
The Top 40 index was 0.75% up on a new 52-week high of 48 918 points - just below the all-time high of 48 965 points.
Although all the other indices were also higher on Monday, none of them are at record levels; in fact, some of them are a way off.
Although the JSE made no progress over the past 27 months, the picture for the year to date looks much better despite the tumultuous road in getting there. The All-share index on Monday was more than 9% higher than the level of 50 650 points at the beginning of the year.
These gains are mainly due to the strong performance by the Industrial index, mostly driven by Naspers [JSE:NPN] which gained 41.4% for the year to date. At mid-morning the index was already more than 14% higher than the level of 72 495 points at the beginning of the year.
It was 0.49% higher at 82 656 points, not far from the previous all-time high of 82 828 set on May 21 this year. Naspers, which comprises the biggest part of the index, gained 2.02% to reach yet another all-time high of R2 902.90.
The Naspers share price is supported by Tencent, the Chinese internet giant in which Naspers owns a 34.45% stake. Tencent is also at an all-time high on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and on Monday traded 2.82% higher at a new record of HK$313.40.
The Resources index, which gained 1.63% on Monday to 34 390 points, is about 6% higher for the year to date, but still more than 5% lower than the all-time high set on January 29 this year when it reached 36 210 points.
The Financial index has made almost no progress this year and on Monday morning was only 0.10% higher at 41 856 points, about 250 points higher than the 41 607 points at the beginning of the year.
Financial shares were however severely impacted by the political turmoil of the past year, particularly the sacking of Pravin Gordhan as minister of finance and the downgrading of South African’s foreign credit rating to junk status.
The index was on a 52-week high of 43 050 points on March 15, but dropped back to only 39 253 points on April 5. This means the losses of the Gordhan saga have not yet been made up. At current levels the Financial index is still about 12% lower than the all-time high of 46 933 points set on April 26 2015.
Share prices were supported on Monday by a positive sentiment on global markets, as investors are waiting for important economic data. Dual-listed shares were also supported by the rand which is struggling for momentum in either direction, ahead of June trade data and a press briefing by the African National Congress later in the session. By mid-morning the rand stood at R13.07 to the dollar.
Analysts said the rand has stalled around the R13.00 psychological barrier, with domestic political and policy uncertainty limiting the benefits of favourable sentiment towards emerging markets globally and firmer commodity prices.
Anglo American [JSE:AGL] was one of the shares benefiting from the softer rand, and traded 3.50% higher at R217.86. The share gained more than 27% over the previous 30 days.
Glencore [JSE:GLN], which gained more than 22% over the past month, at mid-morning was 3.19% higher on a new 52-week high of R58.25. BHP [JSE:BIL] traded 2.22% stronger at R238.10.
Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] reached a new 52-week high of R166.00 in early trade, but then lost ground and at mid-morning was 0.05% softer a R164.05. The share gained more than 15% over previous 30 days.
Capitec [JSE:CPI] raced to a new 52-week high of R870, but also lost ground and at mid-morning was 0.39% lower at R861.11.
- Fin24's parent company Media24 is part of the Naspers Group.
