THE JSE closed in positive territory yesterday‚ buoyed by platinum stocks due to continued buying interest in the sector after its major labour disruptions last year.
The all-share index was also underpinned by luxury goods group Richemont following an upgrade by Credit Suisse of the company to "outperform” from "neutral”. That was based, the bank said, on improvements in macro-economic indicators globally‚ especially in China.
At 5pm‚ the all-share index closed 0.44% higher at 40 330.44 points‚ with the top 40 index gaining 0.49% to 35 808.50 points.
The platinum index gained 2.62% "after labour woes in the industry last year reduced value in this sector”, a trader said. Resources were up 0.74%. Barclays Bank said in a global report that risk appetite remained restrained with sub-par data out of the US and euro area. "Although the index of small business optimism edged up in the US‚ it was only a modest rebound following the sharp previous decline and likely reflected concerns about fiscal cliff negotiations.
"However‚ such measures and broader risk sentiment are unlikely to rebound in the next round of government bargaining over the debt ceiling and spending sequestration looming‚” the bank said. Leading European exchanges were in positive territory after a good start to the US fourth quarter corporate earnings period. The FTSE 100 in London was 0.83% higher at 6 103.71 points at 4.53pm.
US stocks opened higher after Alcoa kicked off the latest earnings-reporting season with strong revenues and an optimistic outlook‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported. Meanwhile, Alcoa rallied 1.3% after the world’s largest aluminum producer reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings that matched estimates and revenue well above forecasts.
The company expects the pace of aluminum demand growth to increase.
On the local front‚ Anglo American slipped 0.16% to R280.64 after gaining 1.57% on Tuesday on the announcement that Mark Cutifani had been appointed its new chief executive. Rival BHP Billiton added 1.29% to close at R299.
Impala Platinum jumped 3.16% to R171.24‚ Anglo American Platinum added 2.58% to R477, and Aquarius Platinum surged 4.1% to R8.88.
Richemont leapt 3.75% to R71.62‚ an all-time high. Vodacom gave up 2.97% at R123‚ after majority stakeholder Vodafone yesterday released results that were softer than expected. – BDLive
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