The JSE weakened on Friday, as resources shares pulled the market lower.
The rand weakened by more than 1.04% and traded at R12.93 against the dollar at the close of the market.
The JSE All Share index fell 0.27%, and the Top 40 dropped 0.32%. Resources fell by 1.03%, industrials 0.16%, Gold moved 0.10% and Financials managed a positive 0.06%.
UK markets were down 0.32%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.5% and the French CAC slipped 0.06%.
Santam [JSE:SNT] fell by 3.73% to R257.70 after reporting a disappointing interim financial statement on Thursday. The financial strain came as a direct result of the fires that affected Knysna and Plettenberg Bay during the period.
Gold prices cooled on Friday to $1346/oz after the US dollar strengthened in late trade. New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley called on the U.S. central bank to continue gradually raise interest rates seeing as low inflation should rebound.
Crude Oil Prices came off 0.73% to $54.09/bbl after data showed U.S. supplies of crude oil rose for the first time in ten weeks, as several refinery’s shutdown last week due to storm Harvey lowered demand for crude.
A report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week, offsetting recent optimism on oil prices, which has seen crude futures settle higher for three straight days. Inventories of U.S. crude rose by roughly 4.6 million barrels in the week ended September 1, as against expectations of a rise of about only 4 million barrels. It was the first weekly build in crude stockpiles for ten weeks.