Broad based relief was recorded across most major global indices as they surged in today’s session. This surge pales in comparison to the declines that were recorded on Monday. Oil prices which fell dramatically on Monday also rebounded strongly on the back of this positive sentiment. News of the possibility of additional stimulus packages from some of the world’s biggest central banks also helped ease sentiment across most global markets.
The rand remained volatile in today’s session as it fell as low as R16.11/$ before peaking at a session high of R15.76/$. The local unit was trading 0.02% firmer at R16.07/$ at 17.00 CAT.
On the JSE, the biggest mover of the day was Assore [JSE:ASR] which surged 81.86% to close at R314.25 following the announcement on Monday of a firm intention to shareholders to repurchase their shares at a price of R320 per share. Diversified miner South32 [JSE:S32] rallied 10.2% to close at R20.09, while coal miner Exxaro Resources [JSE:EXX] climbed 8.86% to close at R114.72. Sappi [JSE:SAP] rose 9.81% to close at R28.22, while insurer Discovery Ltd [JSE:DSY] gained 5.17% to close at R100.31. FirstRand [JSE:FSR] which released its interim half-year results closed 4.52% higher at R52.26, while index heavyweight Naspers [JSE:NPN] climbed 4.41% to close at R2465.95.
Vivo Energy [JSE:VVO] closed amongst the day’s losers after it fell 46.34% to close at R11.00, while Hospitality Property Fund B [JSE:HPB] tumbled 12.33% to close at R5.26. Sasol [JSE:SOL] managed to trade in the green for most of the morning session before it fell sharply to reach a session low of R66.66. The stock lost 16.03% to close at R71.67. Telkom [JSE:TKG] also traded under considerable pressure eventually closing 12.17% lower at R26.20. Gold miners retreated on the day with losses being recorded for DRD Gold [JSE:DRD] which lost 10.1% to close at R10.41, AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] which fell 9.49% to close at R297.78, while Harmony Gold [JSE:HAR] closed at R57.75 after losing 6.88%.
The JSE All-Share index closed 1.32% higher while the JSE Top-40 index gained 1.29%. The Resources index only gained 0.09%, while the Industrials and Financials advanced 1.73% and 1.74% respectively.
Brent crude was trading 5.88% higher at $36.37/barrel just after the JSE close.
At 17.00 CAT, Gold was down 1.39% at $1656.65/Oz, Palladium had lost 3.32% to $2415.56/Oz, while Platinum was up 1.05% to trade at $874.27/Oz.
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