Local and global stocks continue upward march

SOUTH African stocks rose for the third day running on Friday, largely unfazed by the death of struggle icon Nelson Mandela.

“The market just brushed it aside,” said David Shapiro, deputy chairman of Sasfin Securities.

“The market is going up because people believe we’re going to have a much stronger economy next year, which should offset the impact of tapering,” he said, referring to the likelihood of the US scaling back its massive stimulus programme.

The JSE Top 40 index ended 0.8% higher at 39 905 and the All Share index was up 0.7% at 44 616.

Takeover target Adcock Ingram was in the spotlight again after local bidder Bidvest upped its stake in the drugmaker to nearly 7% and increasing its chances of blocking a Chilean takeover of the company. Adcock rose 1.8% to R72.

About 4.25 million Adcock shares changed hands, the most active day of trading for the stock since early April.

Bidvest, which is in the middle of a R4-billion offer to increase its stake in Adcock to just over a third, was 2.4% higher at R258.86.

Altogether 172 million shares changed hands. Advancers outnumbered decliners 158 to 125, with 65 shares unchanged.

Global equity markets surged and the dollar rose against the yen after stronger-than-expected US jobs data boosted the case for the scaling-back of Federal Reserve stimulus later this month.

The debate over when the Fed will start reducing the flow of cheap money has dominated trading worldwide for months.

The main US employment indicator — non-farm payrolls — bolstered the view that the job market is on the mend.

Last month, 203 000 jobs were added, the US Labour Department said, beating expectations of 180 000, while the unemployment rate dropped three-10ths of a percentage point to a five-year low of 7%.

Share prices on Wall Street surged, with the Nasdaq setting a record intraday high for the year.

MSCI’s all-country world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 countries, rose 0.61%, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.57% at 1 268.48.

Gold futures were up 0.15% at $1 233.8/oz.

Brent crude was last up 0.48% at $111.51 a barrel.