THE JSE ended flat on Friday as the Dow lost momentum in early trade, but the weak local currency and strong gold counters shielded the local bourse from falling further.
By 5pm, the JSE all share index was flat (down just 0,06%), with resources weakening 0,23%. However, gold stocks firmed 4,04% while platinum miners were flat (up 0,02%). Banks lost 2,1 % and financials were off 0,25% but industrials edged up 0,25%.
“The Dow managed to open up on the back of better than expected gross domestic product data but lost momentum in early trade," a local equities trader said.
“The spot bullion price is up nicely, and gold stocks are holding firmly and are offering solid support. The weak rand also helped prevent us from falling more. It will be interesting to see what happens in the Dow overnight and how we will react to that when markets open next week," he said.
On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) gave up 1,86% to R185,97 and BHP Billiton (BIL) lost 2,52% to R174,25.
Petrochemicals group Sasol (SOL) added 1,47% to R276. Paper group Sappi (SAP) was off 1,04% to R33,40.
ArcelorMittal (ACL) weakened 5,33% to R80,95. Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) was up 2,78% to R286,25, Gold Fields (GFI) added 3,25% to R108,39 and Harmony (HAR) rose 7,54% to R120,45.
Platinum miner Anglo Platinum (AMS) was up 1,18% to R425 and Lonmin (LON) added 7,52% to R125,80. Among diversified miners, African Rainbow (ARI) rose 8,26% to R120 but Exxaro (EXX) weakened 3,61% to R68,44.
Elsewhere on the JSE, SABMiller (SAB) collected 1,54% to R164,50, Remgro (REM) was up 1,79% to R71, Tiger Brands (TBS) firmed 1,88% to R140,99 and British American Tobacco (BTI) rose 2,97% to R276,27. However, Imperial (IPL) was down 2,28% to R51,40 and Barloworld (BAW) gave up 4% to R33,60. Industrial consumer group Hudaco (HDC) was unchanged at R62.
Among banks, Nedbank (NED) lost 5,45% to R91, Absa (ASA) fell 6,53% to R93 and FirstRand (FSR) lost 1,06% to R14,90.
Financial services group Old Mutual (OML) added 4% to R7,80, but Sanlam (SLM) was off 1,28% to R16,20.
Sugar group Tongaat Hulett (TON) was down 5% to R66,50. Retailer Truworths (TRU) collected 1,26% to R35,25, Pick n Pay (PIK) was up 2,82% to R34,65 and Shoprite (SHP) added 5,33% to R54,50.
However, Massmart (MSM) gave up 1,22% to R81. Aspen (APN) rose 3,88% to R42,35.
Construction group Aveng (AEG) weakened 2,15% to R26,40, Group Five (GRF) lost 2,12% to R32,30 and Murray & Roberts (MUR) was off 1,75% to R43,20.
Among telecommunications groups, MTN Group (MTN) lost 1,01% to R98, but Telkom (TKG) added 98c to R116,25.
South African near-dated futures ended slightly lower on Friday after a choppy day’s trade dominated by the release of global data.
The near-dated Alsi contract ended 137 points or 0,745% lower at 18595. A total of 47879 Alsi contracts changed hands compared with 43831 on Thursday, a Safex official said. I-Net Bridge
