The JSE eked out a small gain to end the day in the green on 66,012.78 points, reversing earlier gains from a surge in commodity prices after the release of higher-than-expected inflation numbers.
US inflation came in at 5.4% year-on-year versus the 5.3% expected.
Bar for Brent crude that dipped but stayed above $83 a barrel, industrial and precious metals were up across the board, with palladium gaining 3.44% to last trade at $2,121.52/oz, platinum 1.8% to $1,030.70 and gold 1.99% to $1,794.93.
“The gains, and a slightly softer dollar have certainly helped the rand,” comments TreasuryONE.
The local unit, which started the day at R14.98, briefly touched the R14.80-level against the US after closing the local session at R14.83 against the greenback. At last count the unit was changing hands at R14.81/$.
TreasuryONE expects the R14.80-level to be a significant technical level, with trade to be choppy around the level.
Mining counters tracking the higher metals prices were mostly golds, with DRDGold gaining 7.70%, Anglogold 3.16%, Goldfields 2.81% and Harmony 2.64%. Anglo American and Pan African Resources also weighed in with a 3.34% and 4.91% gain respectively.
Fin24 reports Sim Tshabalala, CEO of Standard Bank Group (-0.68%), sold more than R9.4m in bank shares last week.
Among the biggest losers were radio broadcasting group African Media Entertainment, losing a quarter of its value, Rex Trueform, owner of Queenspark fashion retailer, falling 13.87% and energy counter Thungela Resources, which gave up 5.5%.
On the local economic front, retail sales fell 1.3% year-on-year in August after falling by a revised 1.2% in July.
Indicators as at 17:00
Currencies
USDZAR 14.8345
EURUSD 1.1573
EURZAR 17.1629
GBPUSD 1.3631
GBPZAR 20.2096
AUDZAR 10.9299
CADZAR 11.9108
CNYZAR 2.3058
ZARJPY 7.6382
CHFZAR 16.0066
USDAOA 598.00
Bonds and equities
R186 7.80%
US 10 Year 1.54%
JSE -0.07%
FTSE -0.39%
S&P 500 -0.21%
Commodities
Gold $1 793.40
Plat $1 028.09
Plad $2 140.18
Rhod $13 790.00
Irid $4 790.00
Ruth $648.00
Copp $9 660.35
Brent $82.87
Iron Ore 62.5% $126.42
Coal API4 $235.00
Gold ZAR R26 575.50
Plat ZAR R15 234.75
