The JSE slumped on Monday as global markets plummeted over increasing fears over the spread of the coronavirus.

Losses continue to pile for stocks as investors dump riskier assets in droves. US markets did rebound following the announcement of an open-ended quantitative easing which will see the US Fed pump more stimulus into the economy. Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress could not reach an agreement with regards to a stimulus bill which saw the US indices trade softer after having managed to rocket higher following the announcement of the Fed’s stimulus. Investors will continue to watch developments in the US Congress, and a positive outcome could provide some relief for markets on Tuesday.

On the currency market, weakness was recorded across most emerging market currencies including the rand. The rand fell to a session low of R17.89/$ before it was recorded trading 0.77% lower at R17.73/$ at 17.00 CAT.

On the JSE, Octodec Investments [JSE:OCT] recorded one of the session’s biggest losses as it tumbled 43.11% to end the day at R5.12, while Brait [JSE:BAT] lost 32.61% to close at R3.10. City Lodge Hotels [JSE:CLH] fell 38.07% to close at R16.79, while its hospitality sector peer Sun International [JSE:SUI] tumbled 17.29% to close at R16.50. Redefine Properties [JSE:RDF] which withdrew its distribution guidance fell by another 26.36% to close at R1.62, while Sirius Real Estate [JSE:SRE] lost 23.00% to close at R9.14. Sasol [JSE:SOL] slipped further in today’s session as it reached a low of R20.77 before closing 19.38% lower at R21.88. Telecoms provider MTN Group [JSE:MTN] lost 17.33% to close at R29.48, while Telkom [JSE:TKG] dropped 13.15% to close at R14.86. Significant losses were also recorded for index heavyweights such as Anglo American PLC [JSE:AGL] which lost 5.21% to close at R218.88, as well as British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] which closed at R498.00 after losing 6.65%.

A handful of stocks managed to record gains on the day starting off with Steinhoff International [JSE:SNH] which rallied 11.39% to close at R0.88. Some gold miners managed to record gains on the day as advances for DRD Gold [JSE:DRD] which rose 7.14% to close at R9.75, as well as AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] which climbed 5.25% to close at R277.54. Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] jumped 8.14% to close at R556.50, while Prosus [JSE:PRX] closed at R1044.27 after adding 1.75%.

The JSE Top-40 index eventually closed 4.43% lower while the JSE All-Share index lost 4.98%. The Financials index was the biggest casualty of the day as it fell 11.02%, while the Industrials and Resources indices lost 3.58% and 3.23% respectively.

Brent crude slipped further in today’s session as it was recorded trading 4.15% softer at $25.88/barrel just after the JSE close.

At 17.00 CAT, Platinum was up 2.18% at $627.01/Oz, Gold had risen 1.94% to trade at $1528.15/Oz, while Palladium was down 1.35% to trade at $1633.18/Oz.

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