The JSE resumed its run after a brief breather at the end of last week, closing 0.70% higher at 7086.85 points as heavyweight stocks buoyed the bourse amid panic over a Covid resurgence in Europe and as local cases began to rise ahead of the predicted fourth wave.
Barloworld gained 7.54% after the car rental and Caterpillar equipment distributor returned to full-year profit and declared a special dividend of R11.50 a share. Omnia added 4.10% after the diversified chemicals play more than doubled its half-year profits, while heavy machinery maker Bell Equipment added 4.68%.
Energy counters Thungela Resources (+7.69%), Vivo (+6.50%), Renergen (+3.10%) and Kumba Iron Ore (+2.86%) also fueled the bourse.
Aspen Pharmacare jumped 5.65% after the drugmaker signed a deal worth R1.8bn with Swiss-based peer Acino to acquire six South African prescription medicines.
A strong dollar placed commodities under pressure, with gold losing -1.92% to $1809.14/oz and platinum 1.87% to $1011.96/oz, while palladium tanked 4.12% to last trade at $1976.24/oz.
Commodity stocks were mixed, with Anglo American (+1.56%) and BHP (+2.65%) gaining, while DRDGold (-3.89%), Harmony (-3.68%) and Royal Bafokeng (-2.43%) gave up ground.
The dollar received a boost from news that US President Joe Biden appointed Jerome Powell for a second term at the head of the Federal Reserve, cementing expectations of an interest rate hike sooner rather than later.
This placed emerging markets further on the back foot. “The move in the rand does seem very aggressive, and the rand has now lost over 5% versus the dollar over the past ten trading days. The R15.80/85 range remains a key level for further weakness, while a break below R15.64 could confirm a correction phase,” comments TreasuryONE.
The local unit was last changing hands at R15.81 against the dollar.
Among the biggest laggards were tech-heavy duo Naspers (–2.32%) and Prosus (-1.53%) ended the day lower as investors took profit from an initial jump in the respective prices following a solid first-half performance. Naspers posted a 52% growth in ecommerce revenue in the six months to end-September, while Prosus also benefited from its exposure to Chinese tech giant Tencent.
Indicators as at 17:00
Currencies
USDZAR 15.7610
EURUSD 1.1256
EURZAR 17.7338
GBPUSD 1.3420
GBPZAR 21.1351
AUDZAR 11.4220
CADZAR 12.4369
CNYZAR 2.4668
ZARJPY 7.2709
CHFZAR 16.9332
USDAOA 595.70
Bonds and equities
R186 8.05%
US 10 Year 1.59%
JSE 0.60%
FTSE 0.26%
S&P 500 0.55%
Commodities
Gold $1 816.85
Plat $1 025.59
Plad $2 025.10
Rhod $14 340.00
Irid $4 390.00
Ruth $598.00
Copp $9 729.50
Brent $79.04
Iron Ore 62.5% $92.78
Coal API4 $138.00
Gold ZAR R28 606.30
Plat ZAR R16 147.91
