The JSE closed firmer on Thursday as it broke the trend of consecutive losses this week.
The local bourse followed a largely similar bullish trend in major global indices, which bucked the trend from the sell-off that we saw yesterday.
Spar Group [JSE:SPP] ended the day amongst the top movers on the JSE as it jumped 5.57% to close at R178.63 per share. The Foschini Group [JSE:TFG] jumped 3.93% to close at R139.00 per share, whilst Sappi [JSE:SAP] firmed on the back of positive fourth quarter results to close the day up 4.00%.
The majority of the blue chip constituents were trading in the green and as a result stocks such as NEPI Rockcastle [JSE:NRP], Discovery [JSE:DSY] and Vodacom [JSE:VOD] closed up 1.80%, 2.42% and 1.17% respectively. Steinhoff [JSE:SNH] which has been under pressure lately found some relief as it closed the day up 2.65%.
Retailers Mr Price [JSE:MRP] and Shoprite [JSE:SHP] benefitted from the relatively firmer Rand as they inched up 1.48% and 2.66% respectively. Banking stocks Nedbank [JSE:NED] and First Rand [JSE:FSR] recorded gains of 0.70% and 0.67% respectively.
On the losers side, Brait [JSE:BAT] dropped another 5.05% whilst Stadio Holdings [JSE:SDO] lost 3.79%. Sibanye Stillwater traded under significant pressure to close the day down 4.70% despite metal commodity prices trading flat.
Woolworths [JSE:WHL] traded weaker on the back of a trading update which they released this morning. The major eyesore in the update was the decline in David Jones sales and as a result the stock closed the day down 2.41% at R53.75 per share.
The JSE All-Share Index closed the day up 0.62% whilst the blue chip Top-40 Index firmed by 0.71%. The Resources Index was softer as it lost 0.06% however the Industrials Index and the Financials Index gained 0.99% and 0.53% respectively.
The Rand gained against the greenback to reach an intra-day high of R14.21/$. This move was largely due overnight US dollar weakness which resulted in the emerging currencies gaining against the greenback. At 5PM the Rand was trading at R14.23/$.
Gold was mostly flat as it failed to gain any significant direction. Gold miners on the JSE traded under pressure which saw AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] and Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR] losing 1.60% and 2.56% respectively. Gold was trading at $1280.06/Oz just after the JSE closed.
Palladium and Platinum also traded flat which resulted in JSE listed miners being mixed. Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] closed up 1.37% whilst Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] lost 1.71%. Platinum was trading at $930.38/Oz just after the JSE close whilst Palladium was recorded at $984.40/Oz.
Brent Crude had another relatively subdued day of trading as it remain under pressure. The commodity was trading at $61.50 per barrel when the JSE closed.
