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False starts in equities, falling gold l... Wall Street roars but the FTSE is unmove...
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False starts in equities, falling gold leave index unchangedA WEEK of false starts in equities, falling gold and firmer bonds resulted in an unchanged overall index of 7 022. The gold index gave up 60 points to 1 247 as the metal price fell to as low as $340/oz before picking up $2 by Friday's close on a firmer platinum price. Talk is that Russia is asking creditors to accept platinum group metals as collateral instead of gold, which it wants to sell. Gold shares were hit across the board, although those with gold hedges were spared the worst knocks. The first quarterly results from unhedged Gold Fields of SA show a 9% decline in the gold price received. Wall Street opened firmer three days in a row: the JSE echoed it but lost ground daily. There was a 46-point rally on Friday, financials making progress. There was large volume in First National Bank, which added 175c to R30.75. Nedcor added the same margin to R86.50, and Stanbic picked up 875c to R195. Boland added 6% to R53, but newly split RMB Holdings eased 25c to R10.45 and Investec shed 300c to R133. HCI was volatile following the announcement that it is to raise R186-million to follow its rights in Saflife. Shares will be issued 19/100 at 425c. HCI - 850c earlier this year - moved from 512c to 465c then settled at 504c. Rentsure added 350c to R80 on announcing a 10 for 1 split. It was another tough week for information technology stocks. Two months ago, this column speculated that Piet den Boer was to leave Q Data. His response : "My life would be empty without Q Data". He left suddenly this week and the share hit a low of 850c before closing at 900c for a net loss of 60c. Stablemates Siltek and Grintek came off in sympathy. IBM SA took a bath when it warned shareholders to expect a substantial trading loss and more to come. It shed 23% to 998c. But Plessey rallied 120c to 860c on another cautionary. Seardel warned shareholders the board had been advised by chairman Aaron Searll that he and a consortium were considering making a bid for all Seardel's businesses including subsidiaries and associates. Seardel could be delisted or become a cash shell. Its price jumped from 158c to 250c, then retreated to 190c. Richemont and Rembrandt picked up on improved sector sentiment following reports of financial agreements between American tobacco giants and compensation-seekers. Interleisure added 15c to 675c on talk of a black empowerment deal on Servgro's stake, and Leisurenet added 5c to 415c on warning it might sell its food businesses. Steers paid R25-million for Debonair and shed 2c to 228c in spite of another warning.
One buyer went bananas on Walhold, which added 90c to 610c - still well below the price paid by Christo Wiese last year. A deal in Chariot looks due, judging by its rise to 108c. T&Nalso surged from 720c to as much as 960c, closing at 900c. Julie Walker Top of page
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