The JSE ended the week on a sour note as mining counters continued to be a drag on the bourse amid a volatile week for metals.
Commodities remain on the back foot, with Europe’s torrid car sales amid a global semiconductor shortage underlining a slide in demand for metals across the globe.
Industrial miners with large exposure to iron ore bled as iron ore slumped to $100 a ton, with Anglo American (-7.00%), Kumba Iron Ore (-5.67%), Exxaro (-5.51%), BHP (-4.74%) and African Rainbow Minerals (-3.29%) all taking a beating.
Energy counters Vivo (-8.56%), Thungela Resources (-3.74%) and Renergen (-3.64%) added to the rout which took the JSE All Share index to a negative 0.71% close at 62,863.64 points.
Gold stocks showed resilience amid a more than 2% drop in gold to $1,753, with DRDGold gaining 4.13%, Harmony 1.99% and Anglogold Ashanti 0.65%. Gold Fields (-1.05%) and Sibanye Stillwater (-0.06%) lost shine.
Brent Crude remains bullish but was slightly off its strong level of over $76 a barrel. The black gold was last trading at $75.27 a barrel. Sasol gave up more than 4%.
Imperial Logistics (-0.19%) ended modestly lower in volatile trade after shareholders gave the nod to a R12bn buyout offer from Dubai Ports World.
Banks slipped, with Nedbank losing 1.33%, Capitec 0.78%, Absa 0.26% and Standard Bank 0.86% after giving up intraday gains. Bloomberg reports the competition among banks and multinational firms venturing into financial services in Africa is heating up, with Africa’s biggest lender facing a mortal combat in its quest to add at least 10 million customers to reach 25 million by 2025. FirstRand, which posted a 48% rise in full-year, after-tax profit, bucked the trend, gaining 1.60%.
Multichoice (+6.49%), Vodacom (+4.17%) and Northam (+ 5.19%) were among the top gainers.
In the currency market, the rand was firmly on the back foot, trading 2.65% weaker on the day at R14.75 against the US dollar. Against the pound and euro, the local unit lost almost 2% to last trade at R20.28 and R17.30 respectively.
“What has now been a 60 cent move from Monday, the rand is now in the company of Turkey as the weakest emerging market currency. The R14.75 support level would be key to an even further retracement towards the levels seen at the end of August,” comments TreasuryONE.
The dollar has found renewed strength ahead of next week’s FOMC meeting after retail sales surprised yesterday. Volatility in the dollar has spilled over into other markets and should remain the main driver for further weakness in the rand, says the forex trading house.
Indicators as at 17:00
Currencies
USDZAR 14.7219
EURUSD 1.1736
EURZAR 17.2725
GBPUSD 1.3749
GBPZAR 20.2351
AUDZAR 10.6996
CADZAR 11.5468
CNYZAR 2.2758
ZARJPY 7.4675
CHFZAR 15.8049
USDAOA 615.47
Bonds and equities
R186 7.47%
US 10 Year 1.38%
JSE -0.45%
FTSE -0.68%
S&P 500 -0.29%
Commodities
Gold $1 751.97
Plat $947.47
Plad $2 010.18
Rhod $12 340.00
Irid $4 990.00
Ruth $673.00
Copp $9 435.40
Brent $74.83
Iron Ore 62.5% $119.96
Coal API4 $161.50
Gold ZAR R25 779.36
Plat ZAR R13 941.55
Indicators brought to you by TreasuryONE
