The JSE snapped its four-day losing streak and closed the final session of the week by adding 1.04% with the All Share Index at 74,776 points.
Telkom shares added 1.03% after the telecoms company said it had reached an out-of-court settlement in its litigation with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa). The pair have been engaged in an ongoing court battle regarding the licensing of high demand spectrum. The settlement means Telkom will withdraw its litigation against Icasa and each party will pay for its own legal costs.
Telecoms peers Vodacom (-0.40%), MTN (-1.99%), and Blue Label Telecoms (-1.46%) had a day in the red.
The rand hasn’t moved much today and has been trading relatively flat. The local unit is currently trading at R14.65/$. Despite the dollar trading at its best level since 2020, the rand has shrugged that off and is looking to close the trading session below the R14.70/$ level.
“The R 14.72/$ level is a crucial technical level, and should the rand close above this level; the momentum indicators suggest that the rand could test the R14.80/$ level next week,” said TreasuryONE.
In other emerging market news, Russia cut interest rates by 3% after the ruble recovered to levels it was at before the war with Ukraine.
In commodity news, palladium is up by 9% and trading at $2,471 per ounce. The jump in price was caused by the London Platinum & Palladium Market suspending two Russian Palladium refineries, which caused the market to jump.
“Gold is currently trading at $1,947 and platinum at $979. Brent crude is slightly higher and trading at $101.05, but the price has been flirting with the $100 per barrel in the last couple of days, and it should be no surprise if the price breaks below that,” comments TreasuryONE.
