JSE adds to gains

The JSE had added to earlier gains by noon as the third quarter drew to a close and grim news on the global front seemed to have abated.

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The JSE had added to earlier gains by noon on Wednesday as the third quarter drew to a close and grim news on the global front seemed to have abated.

Mpho Mojalefa, a trader at BJM Private Client Services, said Harmony (HAR), which was rumoured to be a takeover target, MTN (MTN) and resources counters led on the upside. But Impala Platinum (IMP) continued to feel the pressure due to nationalisation fears in Zimbabwe, he said.

By noon local time, the JSE all-share index was up 1.42%, with resources firming 1.64%, platinum miners rising 0.41% and gold miners firming 0.33%. Banks climbed 1.78%, financials added 1.18% and industrials were up 1.26%.

The rand was bid at 6.81 to the dollar from 6.86 at the JSE's close on Tuesday. Gold was quoted at US$1,418.17 a troy ounce from US$1,420.02/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum was at $1,745.00/oz from $1,737.50/oz before.

Mojalefa said the negative news flow had been contained, with more certainty in Europe, Japan and the Middle East boosting sentiments. “The market has calmed down,” he added, but warned that any gloomy news could push the market lower.

He said there was market activity with the third quarter drawing to a close, suggesting that investors were readjusting their portfolios.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that European stocks rose on Wednesday, led by basic resources and autos, as investors put geopolitical uncertainties on the back burner and optimism returned to the markets.

Basic resources racked up strong gains, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index for the sector up 2.0% at 611.34. Among individual stocks, Vedanta Resources surged 5.3% and ArcelorMittal tacked on 1.3%.

Autos, which took a beating recently in the wake of Japan's earthquake, were also on the front foot, with traders noting signs that production was beginning to recover at some Japanese companies. BMW and Daimler rose 1.8% and 1.9% respectively and the Stoxx Europe 600 autos and parts index climbed 1.7% to 335.57.

By 12:30 SA time, the Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.9% at 279.00. Among the national indexes, London's FTSE 100 index was up 0.5% at 5,963.72, Frankfurt's DAX index was 1.6% higher at 7,048.51 and Paris's CAC-40 index rose 1.0% to 4,027.03.

The positive tone was reflected in US stock-index futures, with the June Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contract up 0.4% at 12,272 and the June S&P 500 futures contract up 0.5% at 1,323.20.

On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) gained 6.50 rand or 1.85% to 358.50 rand, BHP Billiton (BIL) surged 8.30 rand or 3.15% to 272.20 rand and Sasol (SOL) added 41 cents to 379.31 rand.

Among gold counters, Harmony (HAR) advanced 2.78 rand or 2.79% to 102.39 rand.

Angloplat (AMS) collected 16.90 rand or 2.53% to 685.90 rand and Northam Platinum (NHM) was up 1.11 rand or 2.61% to 43.62 rand.

Kumba Iron Ore (KIO) rallied 16.00 rand or 3.60% to 461.00 rand and base metals miner Assore (ASR) gained 4.55 rand or 2.15% to 216.30 rand.

Among industrial stocks, British American Tobacco (BTI) firmed 4.97 rand or 1.85% to 273.29 rand and brewery giant SABMiller (SAB) rose 5.05 rand or 2.11% to 243.90 rand. The company announced on Wednesday that its Colombian subsidiary Bavaria SA had established a US$1.325 billion bond and commercial paper programme.

Bonds and commercial paper issued under the programme are expected to be registered for trading in the secondary market of the Colombian Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Colombia) and admitted to the official list of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange.

Paper and pulp group Sappi (SAP) inched up 1.27 rand or 3.72% to 35.37 rand, but York Timber (YRK) plunged 28 cents or 7.41% to 3.50 rand.

Mobile phone operator Vodacom (VOD) rose 1.50 rand or 1.94% to 78.90 rand.

Banking firm Standard Bank (SBK) gained 1.55 rand or 1.51% to 103.91 rand, ABSA (ASA) climbed 2.29 rand or 1.65% to 141.40 rand and FirstRand (FSR) grew 46 cents or 2.38% to 19.75 rand.

Capitec Bank (CPI) lost 3.50 rand or 2.06% to 166.50 rand. Capitec reported a 43% increase in diluted headline earnings per share from 511 cents to 730 cents for the year ended February.

The earnings fell just a hair's breadth short of an I-Net Bridge consensus forecast, which saw earnings growing at 46% to 747.5 cents.

Income from banking operations swelled 46% from 2.556 billion rand to 3.741 billion rand, with the group recording a return on equity of 34% and now boasting a total of 2.8 million active clients.

In the retail sector, Shoprite (SHP) rallied 3.22 rand or 3.26% to 102.00 rand, Clicks (CLS) gained 1.28 rand or 3.06% to 43.10 rand and Truworths (TRU) rose 1.53 rand or 2.20% to 71.03 rand.

Media group Avusa (AVU) fell 10 cents to 24.90 rand. On Tuesday, the Capitau consortium, which has announced an expression of interest to acquire Avusa (AVU), said it was looking to offer 26 rand per share for the media group.

This represents a 30% premium to the spot price on the last trading day prior to the date of the expression of interest and a 19.7% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price calculated from the last trading day prior to the date of the expression of interest. - I-Net Bridge

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/jse-adds-to-gains-1.1049587

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