Tour De Force
It seems that the JSE has been inspired by arguably the world’s greatest cyclist, Lance Armstrong, as he rode to his seventh Tour de France title on Sunday.
Since the start of the Tour (2 July) until yesterday the JSE gained 5.47% with 2.06% in the last week, to end above the 15 000 level for the first time.
The Efficient Group says that on Friday gold stocks surged with AngloGold (3.02% and Harmony (3.50%) and Mittal Steel (3.66%) driving the peloton, other performers of not note was Kumba (2.78%) Telkom (2.09%) and Tongaat (2.22%).
The market was helped by the weaker currency to make the ride over 15 000 easier with the dollar (1.07%) making the largest gain against the rand on Friday. The gold price eased slightly while oil (2.96%) surged in the prospects that Lance now needs a car to get around.
Since the Tour started the Dow Jones gained 3.37% but was put to shame by its smaller team member, Nasdaq which gained 5.95%, while Friday’s trading was sideways. The star performer of the European team was the DAX, gaining 4.76% followed by the CAC (3.42%) with the FTSE facing some domestic pressures gaining 1.57%.
The CAC dropped 0.23% on Friday as France Telecom was applying the brakes while the Hilton Group helped the FTSE to end Friday’s stage on top.
The Far Eastern team had mixed fortunes over the past three weeks with the Nikkei dropping out of the race after gaining only 0.86% while the Hang Seng was up with the leaders gaining 4.64%.
The Nikkei is putting a poor tour behind it making gains on the back of the higher oil price while the Hang Seng shows that it still has the legs to climb higher.
Now that the tour has ended we hope that the JSE will not follow Lance into retirement but a few days rest will do the market some good.
Business Day:
* Economic chaos in Zimbabwe not in SA’s interests
* ApexHi pockets Prima property portfolio
Sake-Beeld:
* Kry vaardighede oorsee – Mbeki
* Standard groei nog voor, maar FirstRand sê hom die stryd aan
Business Report:
* Ability to raise prices lifts confidence among retailers
* Growth is the key to a better life
Moneyweb:
* Aylett “ready to roll”
* JSE cracks 15 000
