The JSE opened the week firmer as it was buoyed mainly by Naspers and other Rand hedge stocks.

Earlier momentum from Tencent Holdings on the Hang Seng this morning, helped propel JSE listed media giant Naspers as the stock managed to gain 3.10%, as it closed as the top mover in the JSE Top-40 Index. Mondi Ltd and Mondi PLC recorded gains to end the day up 2.00% and 1.79%. PPC Ltd continued with its impressive run as the stock gained another 1.73% to close at R6.51 per share.

The Rand was caught in a volatile session which saw the local currency weakening to intra-day lows of R12.96 against the greenback, before bouncing to reach intra-day highs of R12.87/$. The local currency was trading at R12.93 to the US Dollar when the JSE closed.

On the earnings front, AVI Limited released a decent set of full year results. The stock managed to reach an intra-day high of R100.00 per share before it settled just below its 50-day moving average to close at R97.33 per share. The key highlights from the results was that the business recorded an increase in revenue of 8.2% to R13.18 billion, with the second semester recording a recovery in gross profit margin. Operating profit was up by 10.7% whilst the return on capital employed increased by 28%. Headline earnings per share were up by 9.4% to 507.7 cents and the company managed to declare a final dividend of 243 cents per share which brings the total dividend for the year to 405 cents, which equates to a 9.5% increase compared to last year.

Remgro released a trading statement this morning which indicated that they are expecting headline earnings per share for the year ended 30 June 2017 to be up by between 31% and 35%. It is important to note that HEPS number is a result of a positive fair value adjustment of R687 million, due to a decrease in the value of the bondholders exchange option of exchangeable bonds. The stock managed to close up 0.15% at R215.61 per share.

The JSE All-Share Index managed to close up 0.64% whilst the Top-40 Index managed to jump up 0.85%. The Industrials Index managed to gain 0.89% whilst the Resources Index inched up 0.29%. The Financials Index traded mostly flat today as it only managed to close up 0.01%.

Gold was trading under pressure in today’s session mainly due to the recovery in the US Dollar. The precious metal slid to intra-day lows of $1331.53 per ounce before recovering marginally to trade at $1335.04 per ounce when the JSE closed. This saw Gold miners such as AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields shedding 5.62% and 3.09% respectively.

Platinum traded under pressure which saw it breaking below $1000 per ounce to reach an intra-day low of $999.75 per ounce, this was after it had reached an intra-day low of $995.75 per ounce. Contrary to this trend Palladium was firmer as it inched up to intra-day highs of $953.68 per ounce before settling at $940.93 per ounce just after the JSE closed.

Brent Crude slid on fears of decreased demand due to the current Hurricanes devastating some cities in the USA. The liquid gold slid below $54 per barrel to reach an intra-day low of $53.04 per barrel, before it managed to recover and trade at $53.61 per barrel just after the JSE closed.

 

Enter our Ferrari Driving Expereince competition by clicking "WIN" in the image below. #WinningIsEasy