The JSE staged a 1.22% rally, catching up on a surge in global stocks following the long weekend and as commodity stocks supported the All Share index’s race to 72,444.52 points, a far cry from just over 60,000 points on the first trading of 2021, but still shy from the record 72,939.25 points it reached on 7 December.
A new study from South Africa suggesting that the omicron variant may cut Delta infections also boosted investors’ optimism.
A strong run in metals fuelled mining stocks, with South32 (+7.17%) leading the gains. Palladium powered through $2,000/oz and was last trading 2.35% higher at $2,017, while platinum gained almost 1% to $983/oz. Gold Fields (+3.03%), Harmony (+2.74%) and Anglogold (+2.69%) all gained despite gold trading flat at $1,810/oz.
Sasol spurted 5.23% as Brent bounced back towards $80 a barrel as the market shrugged off omicron fears. Montauk Renewables also piled on the gains, ending the day 5.40% stronger.
Star performer Steinhoff marched 25.36% higher after the furniture retailer said it got creditor backing for the deal with the Tekkie Town founders.
Drug counters were mixed after health minister Joe Phaahla gazetted an increase of 3.5% for medicines and scheduled substances supplied by the private sector for 2022, with Aspen Pharmacare adding 1.56% and Clicks 1.17% and Dis-Chem and Adcock Ingram losing 1.88% and 1.63% respectively.
On the forex front, the rand traded on the back foot in thin liquidity, with the local unit hitting R15.83 in intraday trade before clawing back some losses to last trade 1% down at R15.69 against the US dollar. “The rand is relatively disjointed from other EMs but is back on the same levels where we traded for most of last week. We can continue to expect the volatility within the rand as the week continues and whether the rand will end the year on the front foot,” comments TreasuryONE.
“With the British market closed for the day, the pound and euro traded in reasonably tight ranges this morning. The earlier risk-on sentiment set by the Asian markets has channeled through to the US,” adds the forex trading house.
Meanwhile, JSE data shows offshore investors sold a net of R4.28bn of South African stocks last week and R1.25bn in bonds.
