Independent Newspapers

The JSE. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi.

The JSE remained on the front foot at noon on Monday in line with major global stock markets.

At 12:06 local time, the JSE all-share index was up 0.77% to 34,152.14 points, with the resource counters rallying 1.38%, the gold index edging up 0.17% and platinum firming 0.73%.

Industrials lifted 0.37%, financials added 0.66%, and banks climbed 1.13%.

The rand was trading at 7.66 to the US dollar, from 7.74 at the JSE's close on Friday. Gold was quoted at US$1,728.38 a troy ounce from US$1,712.79/oz at the JSE's previous close, while platinum improved to US$1,663/oz, from US$1,641/oz before.

“It's a relief rally after Friday's market jitters on Greece. The steady flow of good news points to better prospects for the year,” said David Shapiro, director at Sasfin Securities.

European stocks rose on Monday, with banks leading the advance, after the Greek parliament approved the austerity measures needed for Greece to receive a second bailout, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.93% to 5,906.53 at about noon local time.

Late on Sunday, the Greek parliament passed a package of spending and wage cuts worth around EUR3 billion this year alone. The passing of the package was a condition set by eurozone finance ministers for the approval of a second bailout of at least EUR130 billion from eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund. Greece needs the bailout if it is to avoid a disorderly default in March, when a EUR14.5 billion bond repayment is due.

But Monday's gains are fragile, coming against a backdrop of violent protests in Athens which highlight the difficulties faced by Greek authorities in implementing the measures - the next crucial phase in the process.

Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.6% to 8,999.18 points. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.5% to 20,887.40 points, while China's Shanghai Composite Index finished flat at 2,351.85 points.

On the JSE, Anglo American (AGL) rallied R8.09 or 2.43% to R340.69, Sasol (SOL) added R2.20 to R400.50 and BHP Billiton (BIL) was up R3.87 or 1.55% to R253.75.

In gold stocks, AngloGold Ashanti (ANG) gained R1.36 to R350 but Gold Fields (GFI) shaved off 19 cents to R128, DRDGold (DRD) lifted 11 cents or 2% to R5.61.

Impala Platinum (IMP) was up R2.10 or 1.27% to R167.54, Lonmin (LON) rallied R2.73 or 2.19% to 127.46, while Anglo American Platinum (AMS) was down R1.50 to R539. The platinum producer earlier reported a 30% decline in its diluted headline earnings per share to 1,354 cents for the year ended December 2011, from 1,929 cents a year ago. Adjusted headline earnings were up 8% to 2,094 cents per share.

The company said the decline in headline earnings per share was primarily due to the impact of a once-off accounting charge for the broad based community economic empowerment transaction - R1.07 billion - which more than offset the increase in operating profit.

A final dividend of R2 per share was declared, which together with the R5 interim dividend, made a total dividend of R7 per share.

Operating profit increased by 10% to R7.965 billion in 2011 mainly due to higher sales and a stronger average realised basket price.

Among other miners, Exxaro Resources (EXX) rose R2.74 or 1.36% to R204.59 and African Rainbow Minerals (ARI) was up R2.43 or 1.29% to R190.38.

In industrials, British American Tobacco (BTI) was down R4.34 or 1.13% to R378.16.

Among the banks, Standard Bank (SBK) lifted R1.58 or 1.46% to 110.02, Nedbank (NED) gained R2.08 or 1.32% to R159.48.

Basil Read Holdings lifted 44 cents or 3.19% to R14.25, Group Five (GRF) gained nine cents to R26.05.

The construction group reported a 44.2% decline in fully diluted headline earnings per share to 130 cents for the six months ended December 2011 from 233 cents a year ago.

An interim dividend of 22 cents per share was declared, down from 52 cents at the half year stage the previous year.

Revenue from continuing operations was 3.6% lower at R4.407 billion, mainly due to a reduction in activity levels within the civil infrastructure markets, while operating profit from continuing operations including fair value adjustments was 40% lower at R219 million. - I-Net Bridge