MORNING DIGEST by Johan Smit : Friday 03 FEBRUARY 2012

US Equities:

Stocks ended mix on Thursday as a drop in jobless claims signalling some optimism in the nation’s weakened job market. Weekly claims for unemployment benefits fell 12 000 to a seasonally adjusted 367 000. Among the S&P 500 key sectors banks and energy stocks ended higher while materials slipped. Die S&P 500 climbed 1.45 points or 0.11% as three stocks rose for every two that fell to end the day at 1 325. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 11 points or 0.09% while the Nasdaq rose 11 points, or 0.4%, to close at 2 859.

SA Equities:

The JSE All Share closed in positive territory with the index adding 0.68% to close at 34 372 points. Resources and banks were the main drivers of the market. The resources index closed 0.99% higher in spite of the platinum index which closed down 1.66%. Anglo was the star performer jumping 3% to R340.63 while Impala bucked the trend and lost 2.5% to end the day at R170.68. The bank rally continued with Nedbank rising 1.8% to R160.00, helping the bank index to reach an all time high.