Equities on the JSE closed negative for the first time in 10 consecutive sessions.
Earlier on the local bourse opened weaker and traded under pressure for the better portion of today’s session as equities struggled to gain any upside momentum. The All-Share Index started to turn positive towards the close but eventually closed weaker.
The Rand continued to strengthen against the major currency pairs as the US dollar remained relatively subdued in early morning trading. The local currency broke R13.50/$ as it peaked to an intra-day high of R13.45 against the greenback. When the JSE closed it had settled at R13.47/$.
Stadio [JSE:SDO] continued on its high flying trend as it gained another 6.50%. Aspen [JSE:APN] jumped 4.00% whilst ArcelorMittal [JSE:ACL] gained 4.42%. Retailers also traded firmer which saw Massmart [JSE:MSM] gaining 3.02%, whilst Truworths [JSE:TRU] and Woolworths [JSE:WHL] firmed by 2.70% and 1.35% respectively. Banking stocks Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] and Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA] traded firmer to close the day 0.75% and 0.36% firmer respectively.
Index heavyweights Naspers [JSE:NPN] and BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] traded under pressure as they shed 0.62% and 0.65% respectively. Richemont [JSE:CFR] lost 1.08%, whilst miners Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] and AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] lost 2.88% and 1.17% respectively.
The JSE All-Share Index closed eventually flat as it was down by 0.04%, whilst the Top-40 Index lost 0.17%. The Industrials Index lost 0.15% whilst the Resources Index lost another 0.73%. The Financials Index bounced on the back of a firmer Rand to close the day up 0.91%.
Local Mining Production numbers impressed as the year-on-year number was recorded at 6.9% on the back of an estimate of 0.5%. Gold production also impressed as it jumped up by 7.7% year-on-year.
Palladium remained bullish as it peaked to an intra-day high of $987.97/Oz before retracing slightly to trade at $984.75/Oz just after the JSE closed. Platinum was also firmer and it was recorded at $938.03/Oz just after the JSE closed. Platinum miner Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] gained 1.05% whilst Sibanye Stillwater [JSE:SGL] inched up 1.08%.
Gold was threatening to test $1300/Oz earlier on as it peaked to an intra-day high of $1297.54/Oz, but it retraced slightly in the afternoon as the US dollar bounced on the back of better than expected US Initial Jobless Claims numbers. When the JSE closed the precious metal was trading at $1293.56/Oz.
Brent Crude was softer in today’s session despite US crude oil stockpiles data showing that inventories decreased more than anticipated last week. Brent Crude was trading at $55.92 per barrel just after the JSE closed.