A muted session ensued for the JSE on Friday as the local bourse struggled to gain significant momentum in either direction.
With no economic data being released locally the all-share index turned to global markets for direction. The outlook was mixed in most global markets starting off in Asia where the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.31% and 0.7% respectively, while the Nikkei shed 0.59%. In Europe, the German DAX eventually turned green despite disappointing GDP data that was released earlier, while the other main European benchmarks traded mildly softer. In the USA, the Dow Jones opened marginally firmer while the S&P500 and Nasdaq traded softer.
On the currency market, the rand strengthened against the greenback to a session high of R14.83/$ as emerging market currencies recovered from consecutive sessions of weakness. At 17.00 CAT, the rand was recorded trading 0.62% firmer at R14.85/$.
On the local bourse, Sibanye Gold [JSE:SGL] stood out following the release of a trading and operational update which highlighted that the miner had returned to profitability. The stock closed 6.88% higher at R42.10. Other gold miners also advanced on the day with gains being recorded for Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR] which advanced 3.38% to close at R44.97, as well as DRD Gold [JSE:DRD] which firmed 3.37% to close at R9.50. Listed property stocks found some traction in today’s session with gains being recorded for Redefine Properties [JSE:RDF] which gained 1.93% to close at R6.85, while Hyprop Investments [JSE:HYP] rose 2.7% to close at R50.17. Reinet Investments [JSE:RNI] advanced 2.65% to close at R346.32, while cement maker PPC Ltd [JSE:PPC] surged 3.09% to close at R2.00.
Clientele [JSE:CLI] closed as one of the day’s biggest losers after the share lost 10.64% to close at R12.51. African Rainbow Capital [JSE:AIL] came under pressure to end the day 6.6% lower at R3.68, while KAP Industrial Holdings [JSE:KAP] fell 4.62% to close at R3.51. Tiger Brands [JSE:TBS] retreated 3.8% to close at R172.15, while retailer Woolworths [JSE:WHL] lost 1.66% to close at R43.93. Kumba Iron Ore [JSE:KIO] fell 2.89% to close at R351.23, while Assore [JSE:ASR] lost 2.2% to close at R231.00. Losses were also recorded for Anglo American PLC [JSE:AGL] which lost 1.27% to close at R408.28, as well as Aspen Pharmacare [JSE:APN] which closed at R111.96 after losing 1.23%.
The JSE All-Share index eventually closed 0.16% firmer while the blue-chip JSE Top-40 index inched up 0.1%. The Industrials index was unchanged on the day, while the Resources and Financials indices gained 0.27% and 0.15% respectively.
At 17.00 CAT, Palladium was up 0.93% to trade at $2446.17/Oz, Gold was up 0.35% at $1581.67/Oz, and Platinum had gained 0.4% to trade at $971.92/Oz.
Brent crude was trading 1.6% higher at $57.24/barrel just after the JSE close.
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