JSE ends flat after earlier spikes

The JSE closed flat in choppy trade on Thursday after rising to within about 130 points of its record high.

By the close, the all share was 0.10% higher at 54‚888.90 points after hitting 55‚222.80 in early trade. Its record stands at 55‚355.10 points‚ reached on April 24 2015.

Platinums rose 1.97%‚ golds 1.18%‚ resources 1.11%‚ food and drug retailers 0.86% and banks 0.79%.

Property declined 0.41% and industrials lost 0.27%.

Local equities tracked global markets in the first half of 2017, with the outlook affecting confidence, said Capital Economics analysts.

The recovery in sub-Saharan Africa’s big three economies would be stronger than expected in the second quarter. Activity data in Nigeria, SA and Angola suggested that growth accelerated in the second quarter, with SA’s turnaround particularly pronounced, the analysts said.

Anglo American led the charge in the resource sector after declaring a dividend for the first time since 2015.

This pleased the market‚ pushing up the share price as much as 5%. Anglo closed 3.01% higher at R208.36. The group said attributable profit for the six months to end June was $1.4bn, from a $800m loss a year earlier.

Kumba Iron Ore was 1.96% higher on the day at R197.81.

Global beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev jumped 6.87% to R1‚605.05 after announcing revenue grew 5% in the second quarter.

AngloGold Ashanti rose 1.90%, to R127.37 and Sibanye 1.59%, to R16.01.

Standard Bank ended the day 1.52% higher at R163.12.

MMI Holdings softened 0.52%, to R20.90.

MTN fell 6.77% to R118.62‚ following the release of a disappointing trading update in the morning. Naspers closed 0.19% lower at R2‚862.65.

Global equity markets were mixed‚ with gains in consumer and technology shares including Facebook‚ pushing US stocks to new highs‚ reported Dow Jones Newswires.

The rand was at R13.0275/$, from R12.8989/$.