Fallout poisons JSE’s performance

Continued fallout from last week’s revised Mining Charter and comments by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane on the Reserve Bank’s mandate dragged the JSE lower on Tuesday.

The all share failed to build on Monday’s gains as global miners retreated despite the rand weakening to an intraday low of R13.11/$.

The all share closed 0.88% lower at 51,160.60 points and the blue-chip top 40 lost 0.91%. Platinums were down 4.31%, resources 2.42%, food and drug retailers 1.82%, the gold index 1.15% and banks 0.94%.

BHP lost 3.54% to close at R187.56, Glencore 3.52%, to R46 and Anglo American 3.11%, to R158.78. Sasol lost 1.79% to R362.94. Kumba Iron Ore was 2.99% lower at R141.79 and African Rainbow Minerals 0.87%, to R75.17.

Impala Platinum led the losses in its sector, dropping 6.18% to close at R34.15. Anglo American Platinum was down 2.24%, to R280.16 and Lonmin 4.43%, to R10.56. Naspers lost 0.92%, to R2,5710. In early evening trade, the rand was at R13.08 to the dollar from Monday’s R12.99, falling on a stronger dollar and as the first-quarter current account deficit widened to 2.1% of GDP, from 1.7% in the fourth quarter.

Analysts said trade in the rand would probably be volatile this week, driven by sentiment in the absence of any more significant data releases.

“The current view is a bit more negative than a week ago and could result in some rand weakness,” TreasuryOne analysts said.

Bonds were flat, while US and UK 10-year bonds firmed despite the Federal Reserve remaining committed to higher interest rates in 2017.

The R186 was last bid at 8.53%, from 8.55% previously.

Global market sentiment was negative on the day amid a sharp retraction in oil prices. Brent crude lost 2.21%, to $45.76 a barrel.

Futures tracked the weaker JSE. At 5.50pm‚ the local near-dated top 40 Alsi futures index was 1.12% lower at 45‚160 points. The number of contracts traded was 35,134, from Monday’s 34,740.