A relatively buoyant interest in industrial and financial shares cushioned the JSE on Monday as a sell-off in the gold and platinum sectors entered its third session.
The all-share index was up 0.5% to 52‚985 points in early afternoon trade‚ with the blue-chip top 40 adding 0.69%.
Investors once again took advantage of a positive global backdrop to accumulate stocks in the industrial and financial sectors‚ leaving both indices up 0.66% and 0.51% respectively.
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The resources complex lagged behind‚ with gold and platinum benchmarks dropping 5.73% and 4.28% respectively amid the steep drop in precious metal prices.
The gold price was off nearly 2% at $1‚112.10 per ounce‚ bringing losses to about 4% from a week ago‚ while platinum was well below the $1‚000 per ounce mark‚ the lowest level since the last global economic crisis.
"We have become used to the divergent performances between the industrials‚ financials‚ and resources‚" Investec Asset Management’s head of dealing for emerging markets‚ Ryan Wibberley said.
Europe’s leading share markets were higher at midday‚ with Germany’s DAX gaining 1.01% while US stock futures pointed to a firmer opening on Wall Street in the afternoon.
Among some industrials‚ Sasol was up 1.57% to R431.67‚ with Richemont gaining 1.48% to R104.55.
Among gold stocks‚ AngloGold Ashanti fell 5.82% to R89.01‚ with Gold Fields dropping 5.33% to R35.86 and Harmony slumping 7.99% to R12.66.
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