The JSE stood its ground, gaining 0.67% to 70,475.02 points as the new Covid variant omicron causes global uncertainty over how serious the variant will be, with investors seeking safety in the yellow metal. CBS News reports that omicron was in Europe before South African scientists detected and flagged it to the world.
Gold counters, drawing strength from an uptick in the gold price buoyed the bourse, with Gold Fields (+8.87%), Anglogold (+7.02%) and Harmony (+6.98%) leading the charge.
Other commodities got dumped, with platinum and palladium losing significant ground during the day, more than 2% for platinum and 1.6% for palladium. They are currently trading at $942 and $1,765, respectively. As for oil, Brent has lost almost 3.7% during the day and is currently trading at $70.68 a barrel, reports TreasuryONE.
“Volatility will undoubtedly be with us for some time as the market continues to digest any new news [on omicron],” says TreasuryONE.
Despite the drop in the oil price, Sasol surged 2.54%. Moneyweb reports the Competition Commission meanwhile rejected the proposed sale of Sasol’s sodium cyanide plant to Czech-based sodium cyanide producer Draslovka Holdings, on grounds that the transaction will reduce competition and drive up the price of the poisonous chemical.
Implats, which gained 6.07% in the previous session as it turned up the heat in the bidding war for Royal Bafokeng Platinum (+3.97%) saw its share price jump another 5.81% in brisk trade worth R1.84bn. Northam, which earlier this month agreed to pay R180 a share for a 32.8% stake in the smaller but strategic platinum producer, gained 1.47%.
Aspen Pharmacare was also among the top winners, gaining 6.26% after the drugmaker struck a deal with J&J to launch their own vaccine called ‘Aspenovax’. Peer Adcock Ingram lost 1.20%.
Cement maker PPC, which has set a target of attaining net-zero emissions by 2050 in a R664m push, lost 0.79%. Other losers included RCL (-6.54%), Hammerson (-4.48%), AB Inbev (-4.11%) and Pepkor (-3.82%).
On the forex front, the rand and emerging markets had a better day; clawing back some of their recent losses. “Locally we saw the release of the trade balance, which still recorded a surplus of R19.7bn. This gives SA a cumulative surplus of R369.7bn for January to October 2021 and continues to support the currency,” says forex trading house TreasuryONE. At last count the rand was trading 1.14% stronger than its overnight close in New York at R15.96 to the US dollar.
In other economic news, South Africa has hit a new unemployment record, with figures underlining the devastating effects of continued lockdown restrictions, load shedding and the July riots on the jobs market. StatsSA reported that the official unemployment rate increased from 34.4% in the second quarter of 2021 to 34.9% in the third quarter – the highest since the start of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.
Indicators as at 17:00
Currencies
USDZAR 15.9472
EURUSD 1.1375
EURZAR 18.1377
GBPUSD 1.3357
GBPZAR 21.2943
AUDZAR 11.4179
CADZAR 12.4804
CNYZAR 2.5027
ZARJPY 7.0598
CHFZAR 17.3987
USDAOA 584.25
Bonds and equities
R186 8.04%
US 10 Year 1.44%
JSE 0.78%
FTSE -0.40%
S&P 500 -1.74%
Commodities
Gold $1 802.21
Plat $949.71
Plad $1 788.68
Rhod $13 890.00
Irid $4 290.00
Ruth $588.00
Copp $9 602.65
Brent $70.82
Iron Ore 62.5% $94.71
Coal API4 $120.00
Gold ZAR R28 739.30
Plat ZAR R15 144.68
