JSE boosted by commodities

The JSE ended in the black, led by mining stocks, amid fresh optimism in world equity markets that Greece will receive a bailout package to meet its financial obligations.

|||

The JSE ended in the black on Friday, led by mining stocks, amid fresh optimism in world equity markets that Greece will receive a bailout package to meet its financial obligations.

At 17:00 local time, the JSE all-share index was up 0.83% to 34,082.78 points, led by the platinum sector, which climbed 2.30%, resources rose 1.28%, while the gold index lifted 1%, but ended off the session highs.

Financials were up 0.75%, banks gained 1.04%, while industrials firmed 0.49%.

The rand was at 7.73 to the dollar from 7.81 at the JSE's close on Thursday. Gold traded at US$1,722.55 a troy ounce from at US$1,717.26/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was quoted US$1,631.50/oz, from US$1,619.50/oz before.

“I imagine volumes will be fairly light, given the public holiday in the US on Monday. But having said that, there is still an upside momentum if Greece receives a bailout package,” said Ron Klipin, portfolio manager at SA Stock Brokers.

US stocks were mixed on Friday, with blue chips rising in tandem with optimism for a second bailout for Greece, extending gains for a second session, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Early gains in US stocks followed a rally in Europe, after a Greek government spokesman said at a briefing that eurozone ministers were expected to approve a new bailout package.

German officials said they had scrapped plans to pressure Greece by withholding part of the bailout, and the European Central Bank plans to swap its Greek debt holdings for new bonds once the debt-restructuring deal is complete.

On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) advanced R5.99 or 1.87% to R326.50, BHP Billiton (BIL) pocketed R2.70 or 1.09% to R251 and Sasol (SOL) gained R2.01 to R400.50.

In gold stocks, AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) lifted R3.61 or 1.11% to R329.75, Gold Fields (GFI) inched up six cents to R125.98, Harmony Gold Mining (HAR) rallied R2.67 or 2.75% to R99.82.

Impala Platinum recovered R4.80 or 3.03% to R162.99, Lonmin (LON) shot up R3.77 or 3.10% to 125.36.

Among other miners, Exxaro (EXX) added R4.42 or 2.27% to R199, Assore (ASR) was up R2.90 or 1.20% to R244.17.

British American Tobacco (BTI) slipped R4.22 or 1.09% to R381.79 and Richemont (CFR) gained 44 cents to R45.91.

Nedbank (NED) lifted R2 or 1.27% to R160, FirstRand (FSR) was up 30 cents or 1.33% to R22.94.

Basil Read Holdings (BSR) rallied 85 cents or 6.01% to R15. The construction group said late on Thursday that it had been awarded the R2.0 billion contract for construction of the works for phases 2C and 2H in terms of the Olifants River Water Resources Development Project.

Italtile (ITE) rose 35 cents or 6.80% to R5.50. The tiles and sanitary ware retailer this week reported a 22% growth in earnings for the six months ended December 2011. - I-Net Bridge

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/jse-boosted-by-commodities-1.1237169

Nuclear waste Human rights Sir Alex Ferguson Ukraine Sepp Blatter David Beckham