A nothing day
Stefan van Rooyen at the Efficient Group says that the gainers included platinum group, Northam (+5.15%) and Afrox (+3.85%).
The rand lost some of its taste on the currency market; it depreciated with 9 cents and 6 cents against the pound and euro.
The poor performance of the gold price (-0.19%) continued yesterday, while the oil price (+0.18) remained flat after Opec released a report yesterday forecasting a lower global demand.
US equity indices spiked higher with Treasury Secretary John Snow calling for more flexibility for the yuan currency.
Investors supported the idea of a lower trade deficit and their equity markets were 0.66% up on average.
On the European front the FTSE 100 (+0.29%) was the only gainer as traders accepted the April inflation rate of 1.9% (y:y). The Nikkei 225 (+0.24%) is still in a party mood as the GDP growth rate for the first quarter in Japan amounted to 1.3%.
The continued weakness of the currency, combined with resilient US markets should provide some support for local equities.
