Asia spurs JSE on amid scant data

The JSE continued its firm run by midday on Thursday, mimicking its trend of tracking international sentiment over the past few sessions.

|||

The JSE continued its firm run by midday on Thursday, mimicking its trend of tracking international sentiment over the past few sessions.

By 12:00 local time, the JSE all share index had gained 0.63%, led by gold miners, up 1.44%. Resources gained 0.81%, but platinum miners were off 1.70%.

Financials improved by 0.46%, banks added 0.62% and industrials gathered 0.57%.

The rand was trading at 7.06 to the dollar, from 7.08 at the JSE's close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at US$1,339.68 a troy ounce from US$1,329.08/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1,803/oz from $1,789/oz before.

A local trader said: “There is not too much economic data out at the moment to move the markets. Asia ended generally higher while the FTSE is also marginally firmer.”

“We appear to be continuing from where we left off yesterday, tracking sentiment in Europe ahead of the opening bell in the US,” he said.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that US stocks are expected to open mixed, with traders maintaining their positions ahead of core durable goods and employment claims data due at 13:30 GMT. IG Index calls the Dow Jones Industrial Average up one point at 11,996; the S&P 500 flat at 129,628. “We could see further dollar pressure today with the release of core durable goods and employment claims and pending home sales,” says Clear Currency, a foreign exchange brokerage.

European stocks traded marginally lower on Thursday, with a downgrade on Japan's sovereign debt from Standard & Poor's adding pressure, together with a sliding retail sector on downbeat earnings from Hennes & Mauritz.

Although the overall mood was supported by the Federal Reserve's continued commitment to stimulate the economy by maintaining its monetary policy measures, a downgrade by Standard & Poor's rating agency to Japan's sovereign debt rating, to AA- from AA, caused jitters in early business, with the ratings firm saying that it expects the country's fiscal deficits to remain high in the next few years.

Adding further pressure to the market, retail stocks posted strong losses after fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz reported a lower-than-expected net profit for the fourth quarter.

Most Asian stock markets were modestly higher on Thursday, though mainland property developers in Hong Kong and China were hit by Beijing's latest measures to cool red-hot property prices.

Regional sentiment was partly underpinned by mild gains on Wall Street and the US Federal Reserve's decision to continue with its controversial US$600 billion bond purchase plan to support the economy.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.8%, South Korea's Kospi index added 0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.3%.

On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) added 6.56 rand or 1.86% to 359.56 rand and BHP Billiton (BIL) gained 2.46 rand to 277.99 rand. Sasol (SOL) added 77 cents at 355.97 rand.

Gold Fields (GFI) added 209 cents or 1.86% to 114.59 rand and Harmony (HAR) was up 115 cents or 1.54% to 75.92 rand. AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) picked up 3.44 rand or 1.12% at 311.59 rand.

Anglo Platinum (AMS) added 8.20 rand or 1.14% to 726.20 rand, but Impala Platinum shipped 6.53 rand or 3.04% to 207.98 rand. Aquarius (AQP) gathered 1.86 rand or 4.74% to 41.10 rand.

The group on Thursday reported attributable production increased by 3% quarter on quarter in the three months ended December 2010 and by 14% compared with the second quarter of 2010, to 127,579 PGM (platinum group metals) ounces.

The average PGM dollar prices improved through the quarter - with platinum up 9%, palladium up 37% and rhodium up 2%.

Lonmin (LON) said on Thursday that platinum sales at 66,426 ounces for the quarter ended December 2010 were 39.1% less than the prior year period.

The decrease was attributed to the Number One furnace rebuild and bad weather affecting customer deliveries over the Christmas period in the northern hemisphere.

Total PGM sales decreased by 23.1% to 184,317 ounces. The group was relatively flat at 192.97 rand on the JSE.

Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) advanced 9.19 rand or 2.01% to 466.79 rand and Arcelormittal (ACL) improved by 1.14 rand or 1.33% to 86.70 rand.

The country's largest iron producer, Kumba is to challenge the Department of Mineral Resources' rejection of its mining right application over a disputed portion of Sishen Mine.

The group on Thursday dismissed what it referred to as “unsubstantiated allegations” that its application had in any way been “premature or irregular” in any respect, adding that it had not been provided with any evidence to substantiate these allegations.

It added that it would take the necessary steps to challenge the department's rejection decision and protect the rights of the company and its shareholders. These will include an appeal against the rejection decision to the minister, and a possible High Court review application if the appeal is not granted.

Among industrials, Imperial (IPL) gained 1.31 rand or 1.15% to 115.06 rand, but TigerBrands (TBS) shed 1.91 rand or 1.01% to 187.59 rand.

Paper group Mondi (MND) found 1.96 rand or 3.47% to 58.48 rand, and packaging group Astrapak (APK) picked up 30 cents or 3.17% to 9.75 rand.

Country Bird (CBH) declined 30 cents or 8.33% to 3.30 rand. The group announced on Wednesday that its diluted headline earnings per share for the six months ended December 2010 rose 73% to 32.71 cents from 18.92 cents in the corresponding period of 2009.

Revenue was up 13% to 1.42 billion rand, while gross profit increased 20% to 183.8 million rand. Operating profit rose 37% to 112.8 million rand.

The group declared an interim distribution of 11.1c per share. MTN Group (MTN) added 1.44 rand or 1.13% to 129.43 rand.

Retailer JD Group (JDG) gained 1.30 rand or 2.43% to 54.80 rand.

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/asia-spurs-jse-on-amid-scant-data-1.1017804

Sunderland Work & careers Milan Baros David Beckham Allied Irish Banks Insects