Johannesburg - The All-share index on the JSE traded solidly above the 52 000-point level on Tuesday, as the shares with big market capitalisations, of which most have a double listing, pushed all the major indices higher.
The market was fast out of the starting blocks, with the All-share index almost immediately gaining more than 300 points, but then investors slowed down and most of the indices moved sideways for the rest of the morning.
Resources giants like Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore, and the diversified industrial giant Remgro were however all on new 52-week highs. The big four banks all improved on their previous 52-week highs.
These shares are very popular with overseas investors and it is very possible that the latest surge in share prices could be driven by investors from developed markets seeking higher yields.
The All-share index was up 0.57% on 52 224 points and the Top 40 index gained 0.61% to 47 022 points. Amongst the other indices resources was 0.89% higher and gold 0.99%, as the gold price was supported by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine. The Financial index gained 0.68% and the Industrial index 0.43%.
Interest rates in the developed markets are not only on record lows, but it also seems if Wall Street's recent run is beginning to lose steam amid growing concerns about valuations. On Monday, Wall Street was again a mixed bag with the Dow Jones- and Standard & Poor-indices only marginally higher and the Nasdaq-index lower.
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, said investors are avoiding big bets ahead of a busy calendar that includes a Federal Reserve policy decision on Wednesday, Friday's July labour market report and earnings from Pfizer, ExxonMobil and other corporate giants.
The mood was also somewhat soured by news that US pending home sales slipped 1.1% in June to 102.7, according to an index by the National Association of Realtors on Monday.
Other emerging markets, including those in the Far East, are however trading at their highest levels this year, as investors are seeking new homes for their money.
The markets in the East are also spurred on by improving optimism about the Chinese economy, which is of course good news for South African commodity shares.
Anglo American [JSE:AGL], which announced promising results last Friday, continued its strong run of the last few days and reached yet another 52-week high of R295.79, which is 1.3% higher on the previous close.
BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] and Glencore [JSE:GLN] also increased to new 52-week highs of R374.72 and R67.30 respectively.
The diversified resources shares had a strong run the last 30 days and Glencore is now 14% higher than a month ago. Anglo American improved with 12.8% over the last 30 days and BHP Billiton with 7.7%.
In the financial sector Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] was only 0.13% higher on R149.18, but that was still enough to beat the previous best of R149.
FirstRand [JSE:FSR] set a new high of R44.37, which is 1.37% higher than Monday's close, while Nedbank [JSE:NED] gained 0.79% to a new high of R244.20. Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] is also at a new high of R172.57, an improvement of 0.80% over Monday’s closing price.
In the industrial sector Remgro [JSE:REM] gained 0.47% to a new high of R237.61, while Naspers [JSE:NPN] gained 0.7% to R1 317.50.