The JSE picked up where it left off on Friday, adding another 1.32% to 66,101.04 points as an advance in industrial and precious metals prices continue to prop up miners.
Diversified mining giant Anglo American gained 4.47%, Kumba Iron Ore 5.99%, African Rainbow Minerals 4.94% and ArcelorMittal 5.30% as prices from aluminium and coal to palladium and oil soared to multi-year highs.
Coal jumped more than 5%, palladium over 2% and aluminium more than 3%, while gold eked out a 0.05% gain. Platinum bucked the trend, dipping 0.7%, but Brent crude was the star, last trading 4c away from $84 a barrel. Sasol spurted 1.4%.
Adding to the positive mood were vehicle trading group Super Group, which surged 6.18% as a shortage of microchips is slowing new car production and fuelling used car sales and tech heavies Naspers (+0.53%) and Prosus (0.06%), which together account for 13% of the Alsi’s market capitalisation.
Share empowerment vehicles were also among the top gainers, with SAB Kabili gaining 17.82%, MTN Futhi 5.73% and BEE Sasol 11.11%.
Among the biggest losers were tech counter Bytes Technology (-13.09%), renewable energy play Montauk (-6.77%), hotel and gaming group Tsogo Sun (-4.07%) and embattled retailer Steinhoff (-5.56%).
In the currency market, with the US markets on a break to celebrate Columbus Day, trade in the rand has been muted in line with emerging market peers. “The dollar is still bullish against the euro, as it holds firm at 1.1572. We expect the rand to remain range-bound tomorrow ahead of Wednesday’s inflation print in the US, but price action could pick up as markets reposition themselves ahead of Wednesday,” comments TreasuryONE.
The local unit, which traded in a narrow range between R14.89 and R14.95 for most of the day, was last trading at R15.02 against the US dollar.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin climbed above $57,000 for the first time since May, reports Bloomberg, citing a myriad of reasons for the surge – from an easing of concern about regulatory efforts in the US and China to renewed optimism about a possible Securities and Exchange Commission approval of a cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund.
Indicators as at 17:00
Currencies
USDZAR 14.9745
EURUSD 1.1571
EURZAR 17.3254
GBPUSD 1.3624
GBPZAR 20.3951
AUDZAR 11.0299
CADZAR 12.0116
CNYZAR 2.3205
ZARJPY 7.5608
CHFZAR 16.1541
USDAOA 598.00
Bonds and equities
R186 7.98%
US 10 Year 1.61%
JSE 1.45%
FTSE 0.57%
S&P 500 0.43%
Commodities
Gold $1 756.60
Plat $1 020.02
Plad $2 127.66
Rhod $13 790.00
Irid $4 890.00
Ruth $648.00
Copp $9 526.85
Brent $83.87
Iron Ore 62.5% $122.86
Coal API4 $235.00
Gold ZAR R26 296.30
Plat ZAR R15 269.76
