31 March 2006
Johannesburg — THE JSE surged to another record high yesterday, propelled by rampant commodity prices. Firmer world markets provided some support, with a stronger rand making only a marginal dent in the bourse's gains.
The all share index closed 1,72% higher at 20677,96 after touching a record level of 20689,66 earlier in the afternoon.
Resources rallied 3,23%, the gold mining index surged 4,44%, while the platinum mining index jumped 2,17%. Industrials and financials firmed 0,74% and 0,88% respectively.
The banks index was 1,79% better.
On the all share index, 97 shares were up, 30 were unchanged and 33 were down. There were 34 advancers on the Top 40 index and only seven decliners.
"The market was almost totally metals driven," a dealer said. He said precious metals were up on renewed fund buying and dollar weakness.
"After gold and platinum went through their highs, funds just started piling in. There was massive speculative activity driving them even higher. People are almost willing gold to $600," the dealer said.
He said the firmer world markets had helped the JSE by giving it a strong underpin.
The rand had taken a little bit of an edge off the market, but not much.
On the resources index, London-listed Anglo American advanced 2,94% to R241,50, while BHP Billiton was 3,56% better at R116.
Harmony Gold soared 6,22% to R102,50, Gold Fields gained 5,04% to R135,49 and AngloGold Ashanti added 2,15% to R332.
Impala Platinum leaped 2,08% to R1190. Angloplat was up 2,08% at R575 and Northam rallied 4,98% to R29,50. Angloplat and Northam earlier traded at record highs of R579 and R29,60 respectively.
Petrochemicals group Sasol was 2,94% stronger at R236,50.
On the all share industrial index, London-listed brewer SABMiller gained 1,5% to R124,60.
Services group Bidvest jumped 1,93% to R114,16.
Food group Tiger Brands roared to a record high of R175,50, before closing 1,72% in the black at R174.
Tongaat-Hulett leaped 3,27% to R95. Media group Naspers notched up 2,11% to R126.
Cellular network operator MTN Group rose 1,14% to R62, while Telkom climbed 1,69% to R164.
While brand management group Barloworld slipped 1,07% to R133,60, its listed subsidiary PP Cement traded at a record high of R424,99. It closed at R419,13.
Furniture group Steinhoff surged 4,36% to R22,75.
While Swiss-listed luxury goods group Richemont eased 23c to R30,03, it earlier traded at a record high of R30,41.
On the financial front, Standard Bank was bolstered 2,17% to R86,50, Absa advanced 2,4% to R117,50, FirstRand firmed 1,46% to R20,80 and Nedbank bounced 1,48% to R130,40.
Sanlam was 1,5% stronger at R16,95, Liberty Group gained 1,24% to R89, but London-listed Old Mutual lost 20c to R21,90. I-Net Bridge
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2006 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
