JSE gains as US and China discuss face-to-face talks

The JSE was higher on Thursday morning, tracking most global markets as the US and China discuss face-to-face trade talks for September, while locally, several retailers have released financial results. 

China’s commerce ministry spokesperson, Gao Feng, said on Thursday that the country was against the trade dispute and was looking forward to a calm resolution, Reuters reported.    

Earlier, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1% while Hong  Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.34% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat. In Europe, the FTSE 100 added 0.73%, France’s CAC 40 0.89% and Germany’s DAX 30 0.6%. 

At 10.25am, the JSE all share was up 1.03% to 54,813.50 points and the top 40 was 0.96% higher. Industrials added 1.13% and gold miners were up 1.23%.

Woolworths jumped 5.51% to R54.92. The company said on Thursday that its SA sales grew 5.8% in the 53 weeks to end-June. 

Massmart was up 2.35% to R40.51. The retailer said on Thursday that its interim sales grew 5.5% to R43.8bn. 

Advtech was down 1.28% to R10.79, despite saying on Thursday that its headline earnings per share increased 28% to 43.4c in the six months to end-June.

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Source: businesslive.co.za