The JSE was off to a positive start to the week, gaining 0.33% to end on 68,049.34 points as commodities tracked an uptick in metal and oil prices, and Investec showed good gains.
Investors piled into the bank, pushing Investec plc 7.61% and Investec Ltd 6.76% higher after the specialist bank and wealth manager said in an updated earnings guidance that it expects first half headline earnings to rise by about a quarter.
In the commodity market, the metals all had a good run, with gold gaining 0.33% to $1,823/oz, platinum 2.79% to $1,066.47/oz and palladium 2.39% to last trade at $2,086.70/oz. Brent Crude also ticked up 1.31% to last trade at $83.63 a barrel, giving Sasol a significant 4.68% lift.
Platinums tracked the break above $1,050 in the metal price, a level it has been testing for quite some time now, according to TreasuryONE. Eastplats surged 367.59%, Royal Bafokeng jumped 4.05%, Northam gained 1.25% and Amplats added 0.48%. Implats bucked the trend, losing 0.44%.
Among the gold stars were DRDGold (+2.92%), Harmony (+2.79%) and Anglogold Ashanti (+1.43%), but Sibanye-Stillwater was flat. Anglogold’s new CEO Alberto Calderon told Reuters the miner aims to bring down its gold mining costs to a level closer to its global rivals over the next two to three years.
Anglo American also pulled its weight with a 1.51% gain.
Among the heavyweight resources, Renergen continued its record run, adding another 2.38%, while Thungela gained 3.75%. Vivo Energy gave up 3.76%.
MTN added 1.50% to its handsome 13% gain in the previous session after the mobile operator said it had secured a provisional licence for its mobile payment platform in Nigeria, its biggest and most lucrative market. MTN is also rumoured to have made a takeover approach for Telkom in a deal that would’ve combined South Africa’s second and third largest telecommunications operators. Telkom (-4.23%) has so far shown no interest in a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, shares of MTN Nigeria also hit an all-time high today after the telecoms companies received approval to operate mobile money services in Africa’s most populous country.
Tech stocks were among the biggest losers, with Bytes losing 7.80%, Naspers 1.02% and Prosus 1.69%.
On the forex front, the rand traded well below the R15-level to the US dollar, with the unit last changing hands at R14.92/$. “After the significant move post the US non-farm numbers on Friday, the expectation was that today would be a day of consolidation. With all being equal, the momentum for the currency is still in favour of some strength,” comments TreasuryONE.
The risk, however, for the currency and stocks increases as the focus turns to the local Medium Term Budget Policy statement, also known as the mini budget, later this week.
Indicators as at 17:00
Currencies
USDZAR 14.9939
EURUSD 1.1573
EURZAR 17.3442
GBPUSD 1.3550
GBPZAR 20.3106
AUDZAR 11.1248
CADZAR 12.0291
CNYZAR 2.3443
ZARJPY 7.5419
CHFZAR 16.3783
USDAOA 596.80
Bonds and equities
R186 7.97%
US 10 Year 1.48%
JSE -0.02%
FTSE 0.10%
S&P 500 0.22%
Commodities
Gold $1 822.01
Plat $1 058.78
Plad $2 039.41
Rhod $14 340.00
Irid $4 490.00
Ruth $618.00
Copp $9 883.00
Brent $83.29
Iron Ore 62.5% $94.43
Coal API4 $144.00
Gold ZAR R27 310.84
Plat ZAR R15 870.48
