The rebound was attributed to investors assessing the numerous measures that central banks and governments are taking to shore up their economies in light of the disruptions caused by the spread of the coronavirus. In Asia, the Nikkei was closed for a holiday, but strong gains were recorded for the Hang Seng which closed 5.05% higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.79%. Strong gains were recorded across the major equity bourses across Europe while stocks in the USA opened firmer for a second consecutive session.
The rand had a volatile session as it managed to peak at a session high of R17.15/$ before relinquishing all of its gains as it dropped to a session low of R17.54/$. The rand was trading 0.62% firmer at R17.34/$ at 17.00 CAT.
On the JSE, Hospitality Property Fund [JSE:HPB] recorded one the day’s biggest moves as it rocketed 70.73% to close at R3.50. Other listed property stocks were also resurgent on the day with gains being recorded Emira Property Fund [JSE:EMI] which rallied 30.36% to close at R7.90, while Investec Australia Property Fund [JSE:IAP] jumped 22.01% to close at R12.25. Capitec Bank Holdings [JSE:CPI] clawed back a significant portion of its recent slump as it shot up 42.16% to close at R970.23, while African Rainbow Capital Investments [JSE:AIL] climbed 34.26% to close at R2.90. A number of stocks recorded double digit percentage gains. Royal Bafokeng Platinum [JSE:RBP] surged 59.74% to close at R25.00, PSG Group [JSE:PSG] advanced 30.19% to close at R127.82, while Sibanye Stillwater [JSE:SSW] closed at R19.36 after adding 17.12%.
ArcelorMittal [JSE:ACL] lost almost half of its value as it tumbled 49.02% to close at R0.26, while Nampak [JSE:NPK] plummeted 28.57% to end the day at R1.30. The volatile Sasol [JSE:SOL] eventually closed 10.13% lower at R27.14, while Steinhoff International [JSE:SNH] weakened by 10.23% to close at R0.79. Losses were also recorded for MTN Group [JSE:MTN] which lost 9.26% to close at R35.66, Massmart [JSE:MSM] which tumbled 8.3% to close at R28.50, while Telkom [JSE:TKG] closed at R17.11 after losing 5.47%.
The JSE Top-40 index closed 6.03% higher while the broader JSE All-Share index gained 6.08%. The Resources index closed 7.94% higher while the Industrials and Financials indices surged 5.04% and 6.25% respectively.
Brent crude was trading 0.27% softer at $28.28/barrel just after the JSE close.
At 17.00 CAT, Platinum was up 6.21% at $626.71/Oz, Gold had gained 1.81% at $1499.60/Oz, while Palladium was 0.12% softer at $1650.82/Oz.
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