The JSE closed firmer on Thursday as it broke a streak of consecutive losing sessions.

Retailers and financials led the gains as they were supported by a firmer Rand. The Rand strengthened overnight after the US Fed raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 1.50%. This increase in US rates resulted in the US dollar weakening against major currency pairs and locally, the Rand firmed.

The Rand firmed to an intra-day high of R13.38 against the greenback, and continued to show bullish signs towards the close of the JSE. At 5pm the USD/ZAR was trading at 13.47/$.

Retailers Mr Price [JSE:MRP], Massmart [JSE:MSM] and Truworths [JSE:TRU] recorded decent gains to end the day up 6.34%, 5.66% and 5.78% respectively. Banking stocks Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] and Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] also recorded decent gains to end the day up 5.50% and 4.79% respectively.

EOH Holdings [JSE:EOH] was among the biggest gainers of the day as it gained 16.62% to close at R64.48 per share. This was mainly on the back of the positive sentiment surrounding the leadership restructure at the company.

Lonmin [JSE:LON] added on to its gains to end the day up 7.20% at R13.40 per share. This was on the back of an announcement by Sibanye-Stillwater [JSE:SGL] of a proposed acquisition of Lonmin. This buoyed Lonmin whose struggles have been well documented in the market, however Sibanye-Stillwater came under pressure despite opening firmer, to close the day down 7.08% at R14.97 per share.

Steinhoff [JSE:SNH] released a statement on Thursday stating that their financial statements from the past 2 financial years would need to be restated. This saw the stock failing to get any upside momentum to close the day down 8.98% at R9.39 per share.

Other notable moves lower were from PPC Limited [JSE:PPC] and Ascendis Health [JSE:ASC] which lost 8.07% and 6.61% respectively. Index heavyweight Naspers [JSE:NPN] shed 1.84% to close at R3415.49 per share.

The JSE All Share Index closed 0.87% firmer, whilst the blue chip Top-40 Index firmed by 0.68%. Contrary to the trend over the past few trading sessions, most of the major indices closed in the green. The Industrials Index gained 0.29%, whilst the Resources Index gained 0.21%. The Financials Index jumped on the back of the firmer Rand to gain 2.89%.

Brent Crude weakened further today as it broke almost below $62 per barrel to bottom out at $62.01 per barrel. This was despite US Crude Oil stockpiles decreasing more than anticipated as indicated by data released on Wednesday evening. Brent had managed to recoup some of the losses to trade at $62.73 per barrel when the JSE closed.

Gold managed to strengthen overnight on the back of US dollar weakness. The precious metal broke above $1250/Oz and was firmer in early morning trading and it was trading at $1251.57/Oz just after the JSE closed.

Platinum did strengthen overnight but it subsequently came off in today’s trading. The metal was trading at $878.59/Oz just after the JSE closed. Palladium was mostly flat in today’s session despite recording moderate gains overnight, and it was recorded at $1020.53 per ounce just after the close.