The JSE closed softer on Wednesday as it paused from the recent all-time highs broken on Tuesday.

Equity markets opened lower and continued to trade in the red for the better part of today. Steinhoff [JSE:SNH] came under pressure after Reuters reported that the company did not tell investors about nearly $1 billion in deals. The stock price slid to R56 per share before it recovered slightly to close at R59.30 per share, down 4.20% for the day.

Other notable moves lower were from Lonmin [JSE:LON] and PPC Ltd [JSE:PPC] which closed the day down 5.22% and 3.46% respectively. Kumba Iron Ore [JSE:KIO] which has had a strong rally in recent weeks, took a break as it closed the day down 2.67% at R290.81 per share. African Rainbow Minerals [JSE:ARM] and Exarro [JSE:EXX] were also softer as they closed the day down 2.57% and 0.43% respectively.

Naspers [JSE:NPN] came under pressure in the afternoon session following reports that its associate Tencent Holdings had acquired a 10 percent stake in Snap Inc, which owns the social media application, Snapchat. The stock closed 2.03% weaker at R3558.99 per share.

Stadio Holdings [JSE:SDO] continued on its impressive run to close the day up 3.54% whilst Brait [JSE:BTI] managed to gain some momentum to close the day up 2.80%. The two Mondi listings recorded decent gains which saw Mondi Ltd [JSE:MND] gaining 2.85% whilst Mondi PLC [JSE:MNP] gained 2.29%. Retailer Massmart [JSE:MSM] jumped 2.57% despite a relatively weak Rand.

The JSE All-Share Index eventually closed the day down 0.17% whilst the blue chip Top-40 Index lost 0.19%. The Resources Index closed the day down 0.06% whilst the Industrials Index lost 0.51%. The Financials Index recorded gains to close the day up 0.68%.

Metal commodities rallied today and Gold in particular managed to reach an intra-day high of $1285.88/Oz. The impact on gold miners on the JSE was relatively muted blue chip stocks such as Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] and AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] closed 0.40% and 1.01% firmer respectively. The precious metal was recorded at $1284.96/Oz when the JSE closed.

Palladium managed to leap back above $1000/Oz to peak at an intra-day high $1012.95/Oz. When the JSE closed it was trading at $1010.25/Oz. Platinum also recorded decent gains on the day and it was trading at $932.45 when the JSE closed.

Brent Crude was softer on Wednesday compared to Tuesday’s highs. This saw Sasol [JSE:SOL] trading weaker to close at R430.84 per share, down 0.97% for the day. Brent Crude was trading at $63.23 per barrel when the JSE closed.