The JSE extended its gains on Friday led yet again by gains on the resources index.
With Moody’s Investors Service scheduled to release South Africa’s ratings review on Friday evening, local stocks edged higher despite a rather pessimistic outlook from investors given Wednesday’s budget speech. The local bourse also rose in line with other global stocks which were upbeat thanks to better than expected Chinese manufacturing data as well as a surprise beat in US jobs data.
The rand held steady against the US dollar following consecutive sessions of weakness. However, volatility is expected when Moody’s announces South Africa’s sovereign rating. The rand fell to a session low of R15.16/$ before it was recorded trading 0.23% firmer at R15.05/$ at 17.00 CAT.
On the JSE, Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] closed amongst the day’s biggest gainers after advancing 3.6% to close at R107.59. Commodity trading giant Glencore [JSE:GLN] also recorded decent gains as it ended the day 3.22% higher at R46.86. Diversified mining giant Anglo American PLC [JSE:AGL] advanced 2.08% to close at R394.66, while its sector peer BHP Group [JSE:BHP] climbed 1.44% to close at R325.34. Retailer, Massmart [JSE:MSM] rose 2.84% to end the day at R44.12, while Shoprite [JSE:SHP] posted gains of 1.33% to close at R137.21. Other significant risers on the day included Bidvest [JSE:BVT] which climbed 1.38% to close at R208.91, Barloworld [JSE:BAW] which added 1.77% to close at R122.75, and Vodacom [JSE:VOD] which closed at R133.63 after rising 1.35%.
Some of the listed property stocks struggled on the day which saw stocks such as Hospitality Property Fund B [JSE:HPB] fall 7.07% to close at R7.62, Fortress REIT [JSE:FFB] dropped 2.45% to close at R8.77, and Intu Properties [JSE:ITU] lost 1.71% to close at R8.62. Gold miners declined on the day which saw losses being recorded for AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] which lost 1.86% to close at R324.23, and Sibanye Gold [JSE:SGL] which fell 2.71% to close at R28.36. Other significant losses on the day were recorded for Tsogo Sun Hotels [JSE:TGO] which lost 1.64% to close at R3.60, Imperial Logistics [JSE:IPL] which dropped 3.17% to close at R54.90, and KAP Industrial Holdings [JSE:KAP] which closed at R4.50 after falling 3.23%.
The JSE Top-40 index eventually closed 0.54% firmer while the broader JSE All-Share index gained 0.41%. The Financials index was the only index to close softer as it lost 0.3%. The Industrials and Resources indices gained 0.34% and 1.24% respectively.
Brent crude rebounded from its overnight lows to be recorded trading 1.93% higher at $60.77/barrel just after the JSE close.
At 17.00 CAT, Gold was down 0.25% at $1508.86/Oz, Palladium was 0.46% firmer at $1802.40/Oz, and Platinum had risen 0.91% to $941.40/Oz.
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