Energy and mining companies fuelled the JSE to a positive start to the week amid a surging oil price and as metals moved higher, with aluminium hitting $3,000 a ton in London for the first time in 13 years.
Sasol led the gains with an 8.46% spurt, with Vivo (+7.50%) and Montauk (5.38%) following suit as Brent Crude moved close to $74 a barrel and natural gas gained almost 6%.
Moving the needle on the resources front were Thungela (+5.35%), Amplats (+5.14%), Harmony (+4.73%), Northam (+4.08%) and Implats (+3.33%).
Anglogold Ashanti jumped 2.31% in late afternoon trade following its $370m purchase of the shares it didn’t already own in Corvus Gold. DRDGold gained 3.45%.
Steinhoff lost 8.07% ahead of a liquidation hearing tomorrow that could threaten its existence. Fin24 reports the embattled global retailer has applied to the Western Cape High Court on an urgent basis to approve its multibillion-rand settlement proposal, saying doing so will put an end to the “interminable” legal challenges it has been facing. The group said in a note to shareholders after the close that it plans to sell 9.9% of Pepkor shares to help fund the settlement.
Retailers Lewis (+4.39%) and Massmart (+4.28%) gained.
Naspers (-0.93%) and Prosus (-2.59%) tracked a slide in Chinese tech stocks, amid Beijing’s latest move to reshape online businesses. Tencent, in which Naspers holds a 29% stake via subsidiary Prosus felt the brunt after the country’s top technology regulator also warned companies in the sector against blocking links to rival services.
Paper maker Sappi was down 2.59%.
In the currency markets the rand regained composure after initially tripping on a stronger dollar. “With the local unit hovering just above the R14.10-mark against the US dollar, we are currently trading at the strongest levels since early middle June when Fed comments surprised markets. These levels remain attractive for importers, but we need to watch for further dollar weakness if the August inflation print disappoints,” comments TreasuryONE.
Gold gained slightly, but was still trading below $1,800/oz.
Indicators as of 17:00
Currencies
USDZAR 14.1326
EURUSD 1.1808
EURZAR 16.6828
GBPUSD 1.3849
GBPZAR 19.5636
AUDZAR 10.4169
CADZAR 11.1643
CNYZAR 2.1887
ZARJPY 7.7761
CHFZAR 15.3386
USDAOA 624.00
Bonds and equities
R186 7.43%
US 10 Year 1.32%
JSE 0.45%
FTSE 0.67%
S&P 500 -0.29%
Commodities
Gold $1 795.81
Plat $957.49
Plad $2 106.14
Rhod $15 240.00
Irid $4 990.00
Ruth $693.00
Copp $9 627.15
Brent $73.54
Iron Ore 62.5% $133.18
Coal API4 $158.38
Gold ZAR R25 367.97
Plat ZAR R13 525.70
