Rally in global markets provide JSE with further boost

THE JSE closed up for a second straight session yesterday‚ as resources and platinum shares rose on plans for further restructuring steps in the troubled sectors.

At 5pm, the all-share index had added 0.3% to 49 723.60 points and the blue-chip top 40 was up 0.32%.

Resources led the gains‚ firming 3.55% and platinums added 2.28%. Banks recovered 1.15% and financials closed 0.91% higher. The gold index dropped 1.03% and industrials were 0.46% off.

Glencore earlier announced a rights issue and Anglo American Platinum reported the selling price for its labour-intensive platinum mines in the Rustenburg area‚ which are to be acquired by gold producer Sibanye.

The session was also charac- terised by company results from insurer MMI Holdings and pharmaceutical giant Aspen. Niche financial group Sasfin reported annual financials as the market awaited the results of Discovery and FirstRand‚ due out today.

Globally, Asian markets rallied strongly‚ with the Nikkei closing nearly 8% up‚ its steepest one-day advance in four years. Several other equity markets‚ notably China‚ Korea and Australia rebounded by more than 1.5%.

The Shanghai Composite was 2.29% higher after the Chinese authorities promised calmer trading would soon set in at the recently volatile bourse.

Barclays Research said there were several reasons behind the bounce in risk‚ notably hopes of fiscal policy support from China and Japan.

The Dow was 0.34% higher at the JSE’s close with the FTSE 100 adding 1.35% and the Paris CAC 40 was 1.92% higher. – BDpro