Sasol regained poise as oil prices bounced back above $75 after a volatile trading week.
The petrochemicals giant ended the day 5.52% higher, with mining counters Anglo American (+4.93%), BHP (+4.88%), Exxaro (+4.64%) and Glencore (+4.42%) boosting the JSE All Share to close 1.75% higher.
Oil futures gained up to 2.4% as a weaker dollar and strong US fuel demand during the country’s peak summer driving season boosted the commodity after a week of volatile trading, reports Bloomberg.
Other commodities gained in tandem, with gold adding 0.5% to $1,809.20/oz. Platinum regained some of its losses from earlier this week to last trade just under $1,100/oz, while palladium held onto its gains to last trade at $2,808/oz.
JSE heavyweight internet giant Naspers (-0.53%) and subsidiary Prosus (-0.01%) also regained composure after losing 3.7% and 2.4% respectively in intraday trading. Prosus shareholders approved late on Friday a deal with Naspers that will move most of the economic value of the intertwined companies to Amsterdam, reports Reuters.
Under the deal announced on May 11, Prosus – which owns 28.9% of Chinese internet giant Tencent – will launch an offer to buy up to 45.4% of Naspers’ shares, issuing new Prosus shares to pay for them, according to Reuters. Naspers shareholders who wish to tender their shares to the Prosus offer will receive 2.27 new Prosus shares, a slight premium to Naspers’ current stock price. The offer period will run from July 11 to August 13.
Among the major losers were Tiger Brands (-2.48%), DRDGold (-2.21%), Shoprite (-1.97%) and Dis-Chem (-1.95%).
In the currency markets the rand rebounded to last trade at R14.26 to the US dollar, closing the week flat and in line with other emerging markets. The tone of next week’s monetary policy meeting could be essential for the rand in the short term, says TreasuryONE. The consensus is to keep rates on hold, but inflationary pressures are likely to be a hot discussion point during the Q&A.
Indicators as of 17:00
Currencies
USDZAR 14.2532
EURUSD 1.1862
EURZAR 16.9020
GBPUSD 1.3834
GBPZAR 19.7053
AUDZAR 10.6539
CADZAR 11.4201
CNYZAR 2.1989
ZARJPY 7.7277
CHFZAR 15.5692
USDAOA 647.11
Equities and bonds
R186 7.44%
US 10 Year 1.35%
JSE 1.72%
FTSE 0.97%
S&P 500 0.77%
Commodities
Gold $1 807.96
Plat $1 099.00
Plad $2 807.77
Rhod $17 490.00
Irid $5 640.00
Ruth $748.00
Copp $9 437.50
Brent $75.50
Iron Ore 62.5% $216.32
Coal API4 $115.00
Gold ZAR R25 747.16
Plat ZAR R15 650.86
Indicators brought to you by TreasuryONE
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