Futures start week on firmer note in line with JSE

South African futures were firmer on Monday as the market tracked an upbeat JSE.

After hitting a record close of 21,652.87 points on Friday, the Dow gained 0.06% in early trade in the US on Monday. US financials were under pressure, weighed down by banks reporting second-quarter results, while electronic storage stocks, gold and oil stocks rose.

European markets were mixed with the FTSE 100 up 0.47% and the DAX 30 down 0.37%.

The JSE all share closed 0.43% higher at 53,827.40 points. The platinum index rose 3.37%, financials 0.56% and resources 0.37%, while banks increased 0.87% on the firmer rand.

The gold index lost 0.41%.

The market was supported by higher metal prices, with platinum up 0.87% at $929.82 an ounce at the JSE’s close. Gold had added 0.45% to $1,233.73.

Brent crude was 0.40% off at $48.81 a barrel.

At 5.50pm the rand was at R12.9287 to the dollar from R13.0291. It earlier reached a best intraday level of R12.8912. The euro was at $1.1467 from $1.1473.

The yield on the R186 was 8.64% from 8.665%.

The top-40 Alsi futures index was up 0.11% at 47,540 points. The number of contracts traded was 23,116 from Friday’s 22,821.