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Johannesburg - Sentiment on the JSE improved dramatically on Friday morning, with the uncertainties of the futures close and possible rate hikes in the US and South Africa out of the way.
Markets across the world were also higher, led by Wall Street on Thursday where the Dow Jones and Standard and Poor’s 500 indices closed on new records.
Read: Dow, S&P 500 hit records on Alibaba momentum
The All-share index, which earlier in the week hovered just above the 51 000 points level, exceeded 51 700 by midday and was fast approaching 52 000 points, close to record levels.
The news that Scotland rejected independence also gave the London market a big boost which helped the double-listed shares listed in London as well as Johannesburg.
The softness of the rand against the pound in particular also helped to make South African London-listed shares more attractive. The rand traded at R11.03 to the dollar and R18.03 to the pound after the currency market reacted negatively to the news that Gill Marcus will not renew her contract as governor of the South African Reserve Bank when it expires later this year.
Read: Rand near seven-month lows on Marcus news
By midday on Friday the All-share index was 0.42% higher at 51 765, continuing Thursday’s solid performance after the futures close-out. The Top 40 index was 0.47% higher at 46 44 and has now moved away from the support level of 45 440, regarded by technical analysts as important.
Continued bargain hunting of financial shares helped the market further; by midday the Financial index was 0.81% higher and the best-performing index. Analysts said investors saw opportunities in the financial sector, which has been under pressure for the last three weeks following the demise of African Bank which spilt over to other banking shares.
FirstRand [JSE:FSR] was the star performer with an improvement of almost 2%. The share gained 1.99% to R45.61 and is now only R1.00 lower than the 52-week high of R46.61 set earlier this month. Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] rose 1.26% to R141.50 and Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] was 0.83% higher at R164.63.
Sanlam [JSE:SLM] reached another high when it increased by 1.63% to R69.85, beating the previous high of R68.79. The share has now gained 14.2% over the last month and is 39.8% higher than a year ago.
The technical analysts of Imara SP Reid said the upward momentum of financial shares will continue in the short term, but the sector is still overbought.
The Industrial index, which includes most of the double-listed giants on the JSE, traded 0.63% higher by midday on Friday. Naspers [JSE:NPN] continued its strong run on Thursday after a positive broker report on the share, gaining another 1.55% to R1 360.75. Brokerage house UBS raised its rating on Naspers to 'buy' from 'neutral'.
SABMiller [JSE:SAB] was 0.98% higher at R643.86 while British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] improved by 0.37% to R657.20.
Richemont [JSE:CFR] is however still under pressure after a disappointing report on Asian sales. The share set a new 52-week low on Friday morning, when it dropped a further 1.2% to R97.05.
The double-listed resources shares also did not join the excitement and mining giants such as Anglo American [JSE:ANG] and BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] both traded lower, pushing the Resources index 0.22% lower, despite a weaker rand.
Analysts from Imara SP Reid said it is surprising as the resources sector is very oversold, but investors are still concerned about the economic prospects of China, a major market for mining commodities.
Anglo American lost 0.57% to R266.73 and BHP Billiton was 0.8% lower at R326.21.
- Fin24
Markets across the world were also higher, led by Wall Street on Thursday where the Dow Jones and Standard and Poor’s 500 indices closed on new records.
Read: Dow, S&P 500 hit records on Alibaba momentum
The All-share index, which earlier in the week hovered just above the 51 000 points level, exceeded 51 700 by midday and was fast approaching 52 000 points, close to record levels.
The news that Scotland rejected independence also gave the London market a big boost which helped the double-listed shares listed in London as well as Johannesburg.
The softness of the rand against the pound in particular also helped to make South African London-listed shares more attractive. The rand traded at R11.03 to the dollar and R18.03 to the pound after the currency market reacted negatively to the news that Gill Marcus will not renew her contract as governor of the South African Reserve Bank when it expires later this year.
Read: Rand near seven-month lows on Marcus news
By midday on Friday the All-share index was 0.42% higher at 51 765, continuing Thursday’s solid performance after the futures close-out. The Top 40 index was 0.47% higher at 46 44 and has now moved away from the support level of 45 440, regarded by technical analysts as important.
Continued bargain hunting of financial shares helped the market further; by midday the Financial index was 0.81% higher and the best-performing index. Analysts said investors saw opportunities in the financial sector, which has been under pressure for the last three weeks following the demise of African Bank which spilt over to other banking shares.
FirstRand [JSE:FSR] was the star performer with an improvement of almost 2%. The share gained 1.99% to R45.61 and is now only R1.00 lower than the 52-week high of R46.61 set earlier this month. Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] rose 1.26% to R141.50 and Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] was 0.83% higher at R164.63.
Sanlam [JSE:SLM] reached another high when it increased by 1.63% to R69.85, beating the previous high of R68.79. The share has now gained 14.2% over the last month and is 39.8% higher than a year ago.
The technical analysts of Imara SP Reid said the upward momentum of financial shares will continue in the short term, but the sector is still overbought.
The Industrial index, which includes most of the double-listed giants on the JSE, traded 0.63% higher by midday on Friday. Naspers [JSE:NPN] continued its strong run on Thursday after a positive broker report on the share, gaining another 1.55% to R1 360.75. Brokerage house UBS raised its rating on Naspers to 'buy' from 'neutral'.
SABMiller [JSE:SAB] was 0.98% higher at R643.86 while British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] improved by 0.37% to R657.20.
Richemont [JSE:CFR] is however still under pressure after a disappointing report on Asian sales. The share set a new 52-week low on Friday morning, when it dropped a further 1.2% to R97.05.
The double-listed resources shares also did not join the excitement and mining giants such as Anglo American [JSE:ANG] and BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] both traded lower, pushing the Resources index 0.22% lower, despite a weaker rand.
Analysts from Imara SP Reid said it is surprising as the resources sector is very oversold, but investors are still concerned about the economic prospects of China, a major market for mining commodities.
Anglo American lost 0.57% to R266.73 and BHP Billiton was 0.8% lower at R326.21.
- Fin24
