The JSE traded mostly weaker on Tuesday as it struggled to emulate the moves higher recorded in European indices.
The local bourse opened weaker and continued to trade under pressure for the entirety of today’s session. The JSE did recoup some of the losses towards the close but there wasn’t enough momentum for the index to close in the green.
Sibanye-Stillwater [JSE:SGL] and EOH Holdings [JSE:EOH] ended amongst the day’s biggest losers after they lost 5.61% and 5.58% respectively. Gold miners AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] and Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR] lost 3.44% and 4.29% respectively, whilst platinum miners Lonmin [JSE:LON] and Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] shed 4.64% and 1.34% respectively.
Rand hedges Reinet [JSE:RNI] and British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] eased by 2.05% and 2.33% respectively, whilst index heavyweight Naspers [JSE:NPN] lost 1.02% to close at R2999.28 per share. Banking stocks Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] and Nedbank [JSE:NED] shed 1.22% and 0.08% respectively, whilst retailer Massmart [JSE:MSM] was 0.54% softer.
Steinhoff International [JSE:SNH] continued on its volatile trend as it jumped 14.78% to close at R2.33 per share. Healthcare stocks Mediclinic [JSE:MEI] and Netcare [JSE:NTC] gained 4.69% and 3.02% respectively, whilst listed property stocks Delta Properties [JSE:DLT] and Balwin Properties [JSE:BWN] added 9.18% and 1.72% respectively.
Contrary to some of the retailers Woolworths [JSE:WHL] and Mr Price [JSE:MRP] managed to record gains of 1.53% and 1.97% respectively. Bidcorp [JSE:BID] and Sappi [JSE:SAP] gained 2.45% and 2.01% respectively, whilst Richemont [JSE:CFR] added 0.49%.
The JSE Top-40 Index eventually closed up 0.11% whilst the broader JSE All-Share Index gained 0.16%. Modest gains were recorded across most of the major indices. The Industrials and Financials Indices inched up 0.15% and 0.39% respectively, however the Resources Index closed 0.06% weaker.
The Rand traded firmer against the greenback to peak at a session high of R11.96/$. This strength was mainly on the back of the US dollar trading softer overnight. At 17.00 CAT, the Rand was trading at R11.98/$.
Gold eventually came off after initially trading flat. This was mainly as a result of the US dollar which clawed back some of the losses from its overnight drop. The precious metal slid to a session low of $1337.77/Oz before rebounding to trade at $1342.51/Oz at 17.00 CAT.
Platinum traded mixed as it came under significant pressure earlier on to reach a session low of $922.02/Oz, before rebounding to trade flat. At 17.00 CAT it was trading at $932.72/Oz. Palladium followed a similar trend as the metal struggled to stay above $1000/Oz. The metal slid to a session low of $984.89/Oz before retracing to trade at $1002.66/Oz at 17.00 CAT
Brent Crude eased to briefly trade below $71/barrel, however it bounced to trade at $71.61/barrel just after the JSE close.