Financials and retailers led the way in a relatively muted trading session on the JSE.
The stronger Rand buoyed banking stocks which saw Standard Bank [JSE:SBK], Nedbank [JSE:NED] and Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] all trading firmer to close the day up 2.03%, 2.10% and 1.76% respectively. Retailers were also firmer as blue chip stocks Woolworths [JSE:WHL] and Shoprite [JSE:SHP] inched up 0.43% and 0.88% respectively.
Other top movers included Liberty Two Degrees [JSE:L2D] which jumped 5.88% and PPC Limited [JSE:PPC] which gained 5.15%. Clover Industries [JSE:CLR] which has been under pressure of late bounced to end the day up 3.63%, whilst EOH Holdings [JSE:EOH] which has faced minor headwinds lately also closed firmer as it gained 2.45%.
The two Mondi listings came under pressure after the release of a trading statement which indicated the negative impact on operating profit of currency movements, particularly a weaker US Dollar and Turkish Lira. Mondi Ltd [JSE:MND] and Mondi PLC [JSE:MNP] eventually closed the day down 7.44% and 8.17% respectively.
Miners also came under pressure despite firmer commodity prices. Pan African Resources [JSE:PAN], Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR] and Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] all ended the day amongst the biggest losers as they lost 2.54%, 2.95% and 3.08% respectively. Diversified miners BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] and South32 [JSE:S32] also came under pressure to close the day 1.68% and 1.86% weaker respectively. The only exception was Anglo American PLC [JSE:AGL] which closed the day up 0.17%.
The ALSI futures fell 3 points shy of its recent all-time high as it peaked at 51295 index points. The JSE Top-40 Index eventually closed up 0.15%, whilst the JSE All-Share Index was up by 0.24%. The Industrials Index was up by 0.79% whilst the Financials Index gained 0.75%. The Resources Index came under significant pressure to eventually close the day down 1.87%.
The Rand strengthened further in today’s trading session on the back of a weaker US Dollar. The US Dollar started losing ground on Tuesday evening after Catalonia’s president indicated that his country was not going to push for immediate independence. As a result investors bought back into the Euro and the US Dollar weakened. The Rand strengthened to an intra-day high of R13.51 against the greenback and at the close of the JSE it was trading at R13.57 to the US Dollar.
Compared to the levels that it traded yesterday Gold was weaker but it was still in positive territory nonetheless. Towards the close of the JSE it started to ease as it retraced to an intra-day low of $1286.78/Oz. When the JSE closed it was trading at $1288.21/Oz.
Palladium had another positive day as it jumped up by more than $19/Oz. It peaked at $955.36/Oz before it was recorded at $954.64/Oz just after the JSE closed. Platinum was positive earlier on but it subsequently lost some ground as it traded flat. It was recorded at $932.34/Oz just after the JSE close.
Brent Crude was marginally weaker in today’s session and it was recorded at $56.53 per barrel at the close. Sasol managed to firm despite the muted Brent Crude prices as it closed the day up 0.26% at R393.02 per share.