The JSE closed firmer on Monday after a relatively muted trading session compared to the trend recorded last week.
The local bourse opened firmer but it struggled to gain significant momentum thereafter. Blue-chip constituents recorded modest gains and losses which kept the wild swings on the index to a minimum. However the index came under pressure towards the close to trade briefly in the red but it quickly erased those losses.
The Rand slid by more than 0.6% to reach a session low of R12.15 against the greenback. This was despite the weakness which was also recorded in the US dollar as depicted by the US dollar index. There was weakness across the broad spectrum of emerging market currencies as they traded softer against the greenback. At 17.00 CAT, the Rand was trading at R12.09/$ per share.
On the equity markets, EOH Holdings [JSE:EOH] recorded another session of gains as the stock jumped 11.26% to close at R47.94 per share. Listed property stocks continued to climb back up as Resilient [JSE:RES], Fortress B [JSE:FFB] and Greenbay Properties [JSE:GRP] ended the day up 6.96%, 8.87% and 5.6% respectively. Pan-African Resources [JSE:PAN] and South32 [JSE:S32] added 2.52% and 1.72% respectively, whilst Telkom [JSE:TKG] and RCL Foods [JSE:RCL] gained 2.7% and 1.89% respectively.
Bidcorp [JSE:BID] and Richemont [JSE:CFR] were among the top gainers in the Top-40 index after they added 4.99% and 2.12% respectively. Mediclinic [JSE:MEI] and Vodacom [JSE:VOD] also inched higher as they as they added 1.04% and 1.17% respectively. Index heavyweight Naspers [JSE:NPN] came under pressure earlier on but it recovered to end the day up 0.77% at R3009.87 per share.
Nampak [JSE:NPK] came under significant pressure to end the day down 9.04%. Assore [JSE:ASR] and Long4Life [JSE:L4L] also traded under pressure to eventually end the day down 6.28% and 5.3% respectively. Steinhoff International [JSE:SNH] slid below R3 per share to end the day 4.19% lower at R2.97 per share.
Glencore [JSE:GLN] came under pressure following news of US sanctions on big Russian companies. This affected Glencore because of their minority stake in a Russian aluminium producer called Rusal. The stock lost 3.81% to close at R57.37 per share. Truworths [JSE:TRU] and First Rand [JSE:FSR] shed 2.49% and 0.78% mainly on the back of a weaker Rand.
The JSE All-Share Index eventually closed 0.27% firmer whilst the blue-chip Top-40 Index gained 0.51%. The Resources Index ended the day flat as it lost 0.04%. The Industrials and Financials Indices recorded gains of 0.67% and 0.23% respectively.
Brent Crude recovered from the slide recorded on Friday as the initial fears induced by the US-China trade war subsided. Brent Crude peaked at a session high of $68.60/barrel before it retraced to trade at $68.46/barrel at 17.00 CAT.
Gold came under pressure earlier on to reach a session low of $1326.95/Oz. It recovered to trade flat at 17.00 CAT as it was recorded at $1332.27/Oz. Palladium gained over 3% to trade at $936.04/Oz, whilst Platinum gained over 1.5% to trade at $931.96./Oz just after the JSE close.