Naspers drives JSE up, rand gains

The JSE closed firmer on Wednesday on a sterling performance from Naspers, while platinum and gold stocks dropped on weaker metal prices and a stronger rand.

Brent crude was largely unchanged at $78 a barrel.

US stocks struggled for direction with fresh worries over North Korea appearing to weigh on sentiment. Pyongyang had signalled its leader, Kim Jong-un, might pull out of next month’s summit with US President Donald Trump if the US insists on denuclearisation for the isolated nation.

The equity market has scored significant gains so far this month but suffered a sizeable drop on Tuesday as the Dow halted an eight-session winning streak. Despite this, the stock market seemed to have turned a corner this month, overcoming some concerns about inflation, rising interest rates, trade fights and geopolitical tension.

The all share closed 1.26% higher at 58,621.80 points and the top 40 added 1.51%. Industrials rose 2.02%, banks 1.55%, resources and general retailers both 0.77%, and food and drug retailers 0.69%. The gold index shed 2.35%, platinum 2.06% and property 0.43%.

Naspers rocketed more than 6% at one stage, even though Tencent closed a little lower on the Hang Seng, ahead of the release of its results. Naspers owns 31.2% of Tencent, the main component of its market cap. It accounts for 80% of Naspers’s overall profits.

Sibanye-Stillwater shed 2.48% to R8.66. Anglo American Platinum dropped 1.49% to R360 and Lonmin 3.4% to R8.25. Nepi Rockcastle lost 2.75% to R126.76. Mondi rose 1.69% to R346. Its trading update did not provide earnings guidance, Aspen Healthcare jumped 4.54% to R265.

In an unusual move, the rand firmed along with the dollar and was at R12.4433 from R12.5662 soon after the JSE’s close. The euro was at $1.1786 from $1.1838, the best intraday performance by the greenback against the bloc’s currency so far this year.

Local bonds edged firmer, with the R186 bid at 8.46% from 8.475%. The US 10-year treasury was at 3.0862% from 3.0751%. On Tuesday, Treasury successfully placed $2bn worth of notes in international markets, maturing in 2030 and 2048.

The top 40 Alsi futures index rose 1.42% to 52,450 points. Contracts traded were 25,127 from Tuesday’s 21,930.