Today was a good day for the JSE with the all share index closing 1.65% higher. A combination of factors resulted in the JSE closing on the up: Resources were up 2.21% today, the platinum mining index rose 2.82% and industrials were up 1.37%. World markets were generally positive today after news that the US Federal Reserve Bank had raised liquidity in financial markets.

The rand was bid at R7.80 to the dollar from 7.84 when the JSE closed yesterday, while gold was quoted at $975.90 an ounce from $971.07 at the JSE’s last close. Platinum was last at $2 050/oz, up five dollars, from its overnight close of $2 045/oz.

The JSE ended in the positive today with the all share index closing 0.33% positive. This was in line with overseas markets.
The banking stocks were the biggest gainers of the day, gaining 4.04% coupled with financials which added 2.58%. Industrials were also on the up, 1.55%. On the down side were resources which fell 1.20%, the gold index closed 0.44% in the red and the platinum index slid 0.19%.

When the JSE closed the Rand was bid at R7.84 to the dollar show signs that the Rand is recovering a bit against the green back after trading at R7.96 yesterday.

With the current high prices of fuel in South Africa and signs that we maybe in for another petrol price hike come April, are many of us going to be able to afford driving our cars? Could the answer lie in the scooter? A report by SABC yesterday headlined: Fuel-efficient scooter sales up by 30%. This statistic is no surprise as more and more people are looking towards this two wheeler as a mode of transportation in order to save on their wallets.

On most scooters, one litre of petrol will take you 55kms as opposed to one litre taking you only 10km in an average car. If more people start to use scooters in South Africa, they would save a lot on their monthly fuel bills. Not only will scooters save one fuel but they will ease your traffic problems. A scooter can whisk in and out of traffic and one can quickly get from point A to B. Read the rest of this entry »

The JSE closed on a low today with the all share index closing 1.96% in the red. The gold mining index fell 4.11% and resources dropped 4.1%, while the platinum mining index weakened 3.45%. Banks were down 0.95% and financials lost 0.88%, but industrials were on the up 0.89%. The JSE ended in the red today largely due to weaker world markets and ever growing fears of a recession in the US. The drop in the resources and mining stocks did not help the JSE. With the prices of platinum and gold coming down today, it was no surprise that the resource and mining indexes fell by such great margins today.

At 20:00, Platinum was trading at $1 980 an ounce and gold was at $970.80, both metals significantly dropping from their levels last week. There was not letting up on the price of oil though. Oil hit a record high of $107/barrel today, reversing earlier losses as investors sought oil as a hedge against a depressed dollar and inflation.

As for the Rand, at 17:20 local time, it was trading at R7.9320 against the greenback after briefly touching R7.9280, a sharp recovery from its session, and new near-five-year, low of R8.1170/dollar.

The Rand was bid at 7.9300 to the dollar at 17:40 today from its previous close of 8.0510 and an intraday worst level of 8.0675.

The JSE closed in the red today with the All Share index ending 1.16% lower. Global equity markets all seemed to take a dive today after the release of gloomy US job reports and continuing fears of a recession in the US. Most of the indexes on the JSE ended lower today with the exception of the gold mining index which closed 1.95% up. This past week the JSE has mainly been held up by the resources and mining stocks but today it was not the case as the platinum mining index retreated 1.36%, while resources fell 1.23%.

The JSE closed in positive territory today as the All Share Index was up 1.83%. Resources were among the biggest contributors to the gain as the resource index was up 2.55%. The industrial index was up 1.24% so was that financial index by 1.59%.

The Producer Price Inflation (PPI) figures were released today and they were 10.4% year-on-year which is what the market expected and thus did not have a major effect on the JSE’s trading today. Producer price inflation (PPI) rose to 10.4% year-on-year in January up from December’s rate of 9.5%, Statistics SA reported today. PPI inflation indicates what consumers are likely to pay in stores in the future.

At 21:00 the Rand was trading at R7.97 to the dollar, R12.26 to the euro and R16.01 to the pound show that the Rand continues to soften against the major currencies.

The JSE closed in the red today amidst reports that Eskom would stop the progress of developments such as the Gautrain and infrastructure for the 2010 World Cup. Eskom were however quick to come out and say this would not happen. Eskom said all developments that have already applied and have quotations will be honoured and that the Gautrain and World Cup infrastructure would continue to be developed with no problems from Eskom’s part.

Now it seems like if anyone wants to go ahead with a development requiring more than 100 kVa, they would need to apply for approval first from Eskom and it may take between four and six months for the application to be processed. That could easily be six months of productivity lost! Read the rest of this entry »