Upbeat China data lift JSE

THE JSE halted a three-day losing run yesterday, buoyed by upbeat Chinese data that gave support to local commodity shares‚ coupled with a weaker rand that lifted dual-listed counters. At 5pm‚ the all share index was up 0.59% to 43‚014.44 points, with the top 40 index gaining 0.76%.

Resources added 0.89% after touching a three-day best level earlier in the session, and platinum counters added 2.88% to close near their best level since April 2. Gold counters‚ however‚ slumped 5.49% on profit-taking after good recent runs and the possibility of strikes looming in the sector.

“Two catalysts drove the market today. One was the reaction to the Fed minutes, and there were no surprises in their comments that they will look to taper if economic conditions in the US improve,” Newstrading portfolio manager Devin Shutte said. “The second was the surprise expansion in China’s manufacturing sector, which, coupled with the effects of the weaker rand, firmed commodity shares.”

Among individual shares, SA’s second-largest coal producer, Exxaro (EXX), lost 1.19% to R160.60 after the miner reported a 39% drop in headline earnings, citing lower coal prices. Investors punished SA’s second-largest gold producer, Gold Fields (GFI), which tumbled 9.13% to R59.89 after it posted a net loss of $129m in the second quarter of 2013.

Gold One International (GDO) dropped 13.04% to 53c after closing 21.05% higher on Wednesday following the sale of its West Rand operations to the newly listed Sibanye Gold (SGL).

Among general resource counters, Anglo American (AGL) added 1.62% to R241.35 and BHP Billiton (BIL) gained 1.41% to R306.24. Sasol (SOL) was up 1.08% at R479.61.

A mixed bag of earnings from the retail sector saw Walmart-owned Massmart (MSM) lose 4.06% to R148.49 after the company reported a 9.9% fall in first-half profit‚ as consumers in SA came under pressure.

Fashion retailer Truworths (TRU) declined 0.96% to R82.60 despite boosting headline earnings per share by 8.4% to 570.8c.

South African futures followed the JSE firmer yesterday as a gold miner selloff on profit-taking and labour woes was offset by gains in platinum and resource counters, buoyed by upbeat Chinese economic data.

The near-dated Alsi was up 0.40% at 38,401 points at the close yesterday. The number of contracts traded was 38,486 from 38,248 on Wednesday.