JSE higher as safe-haven demand lifts gold

The JSE was higher in early trade on Wednesday morning as investors ploughed into gold shares.

Gold edged up on safe-haven demand as geopolitical tension mounted.

The downing of a Russian fighter jet over Turkey prompted some investors to move back into gold‚ although the prospect of a US rate increase in December continued to weigh on sentiment.

At 9.43am‚ the all share index was up 0.24% at 51‚942.90 points. The blue-chip top 40 index rose 0.30%.

Leading indices were flat to higher. Banks were the exception‚ down 0.35%. The gold index led the gains‚ surging 3.31%. Platinums and resources climbed 1.65% and 1.45% respectively.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that continued geopolitical turmoil was likely to bolster demand for haven assets on Wednesday. As there were few major economic data releases‚ market direction would be driven by breaking headline news‚ the newswires said.

In Asia‚ stock markets were mixed. The Japanese Nikkei 225 closed 0.39% lower while the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.88%.

Among individual shares on the JSE‚ Glencore rose 2.66% to R20.45.

ArcelorMittal was up 2.61% at R6.30.

AngloGold Ashanti added 3.42% to R98.25. Harmony climbed 7.05% to R9.72.

Aveng added 3.01% to R2.74.

Sappi was up 1.36% at R63.35.

- TMG Digital/BDlive