JSE ends in black on oil and gold

GOLD shares were the shining star lighting up the JSE when it closed on Friday, with oil stocks adding extra muscle to the local bourse.

The all share index ended 0,24% higher. Resources added 0,13%, and the gold mining index soared 1,33% while the platinum mining indices fell 0,98%.

Industrials rose 0,34% and financials added 0,28%, and banks closed 0,41% higher.

“There was interest seen in oil share prices like Sasol, and gold shares had a nice move on the gold price on the back of a lower dollar,” a trader said.

However, overseas markets were nervous on the back of high oil prices, and there was inflation worries in the market, said the trader. He said the JSE was losing a bit of ground toward the end of the day, but didn’t do too badly considering where the Dow was, with the bourse seeing some profit taking.

The market was mixed, with pressure seen on platinum shares, but BHP Billiton was up nicely although later during the day it gave up some of its gains, the trader said.

He said Nedbank was still looking good on the back of the Standard Chartered buyout rumour, and nice interest was seen in some retail stocks.

In resources, Anglo American was up 90c to R449,90 and BHP Billiton eased 0,24% to R210.

Gold miner AngloGold climbed R7,96 to R314,50, Gold Fields climbed R1,11 to R125 and Harmony edged up 0,30% to R102,56.

Among platinum stocks, Anglo Platinum weakened R6 to R1086, Lonmin tumbled R12,65 to R520,55, and Impala Platinum retreated 1,33% to R224.

Elsewhere, fixed line phone operator Telkom added R1,20 to R170,70 and cellphone network provider MTN Group added R2,80 to R104,30, with Altech gaining 2,25% to R63,50.

Nedbank added 0,70% to R143, Standard Bank rose 58c to R106,23, Absa was up R1,39 to R133,03, but FirstRand gave up 1c to R23,59.

Diversified industrial group Barloworld weakened 1,53% to R125,06 and Remgro slipped 0,49% to R184,10.

In life insurance, Discovery pulled back 0,07% to R29,73 and Old Mutual was 0,12% lower to R24,75. Liberty International was 75c lower at R158,65.

Clothing retailer Truworths edged up 0,24% to R37,50, but Foschini lost 85c to R60,50.

Construction groups Murray and Roberts, PPC and Group Five shed 3,51%, 0,21% and 0,91% to R75,53, R48,40 and R65,50 respectively.

Medi-Clinic shed 50c to R25,40 and Netcare eased 35c to R13,80.

South African near-dated futures ended slightly weaker on Friday, reversing earlier gold price-related gains, as a weak opening on Wall Street dampened the upbeat mood. The near-dated Alsi contract finished 0,42% lower, or 115 points, at 26950.

"We had a good run on the back of a strong gold price but the momentum was dampened by Wall Street’s weak opening," a trader said.

He said the market pushed up by as much as 300 points earlier after the bullion price broke above $680/oz but Wall Street’s decline in early trade forced it to rethink the uptrend.

A SAFEX official said a total of 30606 Alsi contracts traded compared with 30888 on Thursday.

South African white maize futures ended barely changed Friday as traders struggled to find a clear-cut path after the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) gave mixed signals. “There was bit of profit taking but we didn’t find anything to move in either direction,” trader said. December white maize, the most active, fell R5 to R1776 per ton and September was up just R1 at R1738. I-Net Bridge