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Johannesburg - There was very little excitement on the JSE on Tuesday as traders are looking for profit-taking and bargain hunting opportunities, while markets worldwide are waiting for market moving economic data to be announced later this week.
In late afternoon trade, the All Share-index was only 0.01% higher on 54 643 points, while the Top 40-index gave up 0.16% to 48 367 points.
Monday’s star performer, the Resources index, was the victim of profit-taking, while the Financial index gave up earlier modest gains after losing ground in the previous session due to some serious profit-taking.
The Resources index gained 0.96% after gaining more than 3% on Monday, while the Financial index was down 0.13%.
Technical analysts from Imara SP Reid said in its daily market snap shot on Tuesday that a resistance level of 55 180 is developing for the All Share-index, which needs to breached for sustainable gains to be possible.
International markets were higher on Tuesday morning on good economic news in the US and Europe, but world markets are waiting for the latest US labour report on Friday to assess the state of the American economy.
Disappointing growth figures in the US last week raised concern about the US economy, but since then there was more positive news. Wall Street strengthened on Monday on news of the first rise in US factory orders in eight months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 46.34 points to 18 070.40 after the Commerce Department said new orders for manufactured goods rose 2.1% in March after seven straight months of declines.
Investors regard Friday’s US labour report as an important indicator of the real state of the US economy and what the future holds for US interest rates.
Last month’s labour report will be the first indicator of economic activity in the US this year that was not influenced by bad weather, as some economists said that the poor growth figures in the first quarter can mainly be ascribed to severe weather disruptions.
Some of the best performers on the JSE on Tuesday were shares in the food and hospitality industry. City Lodge [JSE:CLH] gained 0.68% to reach a new 52-week high of R154.55 after it rose more than 8% over the past seven days. The share is now more than 28% higher for the year.
Famous Brands [JSE:FBR] was also at a new high of R122.31 after it gained another R1.08 on Tuesday. The share is now more than 10% higher for the year of which more than 6% occurred over the past seven days.
Analysts say that investors are increasingly turning towards mid cap shares as the bigger shares are becoming overvalued.
In the industrial sector there was strong interest in Remgro [JSE:REM] and the share traded 1.64% higher on R267.07. Naspers [JSE:NPN] gained 0.97% to R1 861.23.
Anglo American [JSE:AGL], one of the star performers on Monday, was strong again on Tuesday and gained another 1.67% to R210.00. BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] however lost 1.37% to trade at R291.05.
