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Johannesburg - The technical momentum which pushed the JSE higher in a strong afternoon session on Wednesday continued on Thursday, but in a more subdued fashion.
Analysts warn however that more residual selling pressure is on the cards, as the strong run on Wednesday and Thursday morning did not change the technical picture for shares in the short term.
By midday the All-share index was 0.65% higher at 51 952 and the Top 40-index was 0.70% firmer at 46 433 points.
At that stage the Financial index was 0.47% higher, the Industrial index 0.57% up and resources were trading 1.50% stronger. The exception was the Gold index, which lost 0.35%.
Imara SP Reid said in its daily Market Snapshot that an overall assessment of the All-share index hints at a fair likelihood that it would test the support area at around 50 000 points in the weeks ahead. Short-term traders should use available strength to manage trades which are currently profitable.
The big shares on the JSE, which have been mostly responsible for the strong recovery of the past few days, were again higher on Thursday morning, but the gains at midday were more modest.
Naspers [JSE:NPN] and SABMiller [JSE:SAB], which were both more than 2% higher on Wednesday, continued their upward move at a slower pace. SABMiller gained only 0.16% to R665.43 and Naspers was only 0.52% firmer at R1 782.00.
Richemont [JSE:CFR] continued its strong performance of the past few days and traded another 0.91% higher at R108.15. The stock is now almost 6% higher for the past month.
Analysts said Richemont benefited from the strong results of luxury goods group LVMH, which reported strong sales growth in Europe and the United States - good news because of the pull-back in demand from China.
British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] continued its record-breaking run, based on strong demand for the share in London, by gaining a further 2.13% to another 52-week high of R733.82.
Among the financial shares the high flyers on Wednesday were all slightly lower. Standard Bank [JSE:SBK], which gained 1.5% on Wednesday, lost 0.01% on Thursday to trade at R153.77. FirstRand [JSE:FSR] was 0.15% lower at R54.77 after gaining 2.5% on Wednesday, while Capitec [JSE:CPI] was only 0.15% softer after jumping 3.5% on Wednesday.
Barclays Africa Group [JSE:BGA], which bucked the trend on Wednesday and lost ground despite reasonable results, again went against the flow on Thursday morning. By midday it was 1.19% higher at R185.46.
Imara SP Reid said commodity prices are exhibiting marginal short-term technical improvement which is a realistic outcome, given their much oversold position. Although they could build further momentum, there is little evidence of sufficient sustained demand to create a trend reversal.
BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] had a good run on Thursday morning and gained 2.09% to R224.12, while Anglo American [JSE:AGL] was 1.85% higher at R161.85.
Mondi plc [JSE:MNP] reached yet another 52-week high on Thursday morning after gaining another 1.06% to R304.20.
