SOUTH African stocks ended higher today, staging a recovery from yesterday’s plunge as overseas markets rebound, while firmer metal prices spurred a fresh round of buying for mining stocks, traders said.
"We’re trying to find some stability here. It’s not a complete recovery from yesterday’s hammering, but it’s a step in the right direction," one Johannesburg-based trader said.
Rallying metal prices, with gold climbing by more than 2% on continued safe haven-inspired gains and the softer dollar, helped lift a selection of the badly beaten down mining stocks higher, traders said.
The all share index ended 2,56% higher, thanks to a 3,27% rise in resources. The platinum mining index rallied 3,57%, but the gold mining index fell 0,96%.
Banks added 1,69%, industrials gained 2,15% and financials firmed 1,97%.
The rand was bid at R8,82 to the dollar from R8,87 when the JSE closed yesterday, while gold was last quoted at $876,60 a troy ounce from $867,85 at the JSE’s last close.
Platinum was trading at $1,011/oz from a previous close of $961/oz.
Brent crude was at $86,33 per barrel, from its previous close of $83.68.
Dow Jones Newswires reports US stocks traded narrowly higher this morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average flirting around 10 000, as banks remained under significant pressure even though the Federal Reserve announced a commercial-paper funding facility to free up that market.
Recently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 26 points to 9 981, though the index has continued to move above and below the sentimentally significant 10 000 level for most of the morning. After not being below that level since 2004, the index ended under that level yesterday in heavy selling.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 was recently up 2,1 at 1 059, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1,4 points to 1 864.
