Outlook for eurozone buoys JSE

The JSE reversed earlier losses to close higher on Thursday, buoyed by global equity markets, which gained on revised growth prospects for the eurozone economy.

In late trade, the euro leapt against the dollar and the JSE gained, after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi left the bank’s bondbuying programme unchanged. While revising growth forecasts upwards, Draghi provided no details about reducing the bank’s stimulus policy.

The prospects of longer-thanexpected liquidity in global markets was, however, offset by gloomy local data, which underlined the extent to which SA’s growth outlook is diverging from that of the rest of the world. Mining production and manufacturing data for July were lower than expected. While mining had improved from 2016, it was off a low base. Without this distortion, mining would have contracted in 2017, said Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop.

On the JSE, the all share closed 0.72% higher at 55‚878.2 points and the top 40 added 0.83%. Banks gained 1.04%‚ industrials 0.92%‚ resources 0.63%‚ financials 0.42% and food and drug retailers, 0.37%. Platinums shed 0.38% and property 0.05%.

Among individual shares, Sasol gained 1.29%, to R390.96.

British American Tobacco jumped 2.21%, to R826.43.

FirstRand gained 0.28%, to R54.60 after reporting 7% higher earnings for the year to end-June.

Sanlam was 1.21% lower at R67.71 after reporting lacklustre earnings growth for the half-year to end-June.

Clover fell 5.12%, to R14.81 after saying its earnings would drop 65%, to 67% — worse than the 50% and 65% fall flagged in late May.

Spur shed 1.37%, to R28.80 after it reported headline earnings per share down 8.3% for the year to end-June.

At 5.40pm, gold was up 0.97% at $1‚347.05/oz and platinum 1.14%, to $1‚012.52/oz. Brent fell 0.13%, to R54.07. The top-40 Alsi futures index was up 1.13%, to 49‚490 points. The number of contracts traded was 24‚505, from Wednesday’s 27,308.