JSE lower as US trade war unfolds

The JSE ended off a choppy week by closing lower on Friday, as the longanticipated trade war between the US and China got underway in earnest.

Retailers, banks and diversified miners were all lower as the rand and major global equity markets sought a clear direction. The local bourse pared broad-based gains shortly before the close, to end only slightly lower.

The all share fell 0.17% to 57,313.9 points and the top 40 0.14%. Banks fell 1.77%, financials 1.77%, general retailers 1.03%. Gold miners firmed 0.45%.

Analysts said the reaction of global markets to the US imposition of $34bn in tariffs against China on Friday was somewhat subdued, but European, Asian and local markets edged lower. China announced its own reciprocal tariffs, and is to lodge a dispute with the World Trade Organisation.

The rand was weaker, before firming slightly in the afternoon. This followed the release of US nonfarm payrolls data for June, indicating wage growth was little changed from May. The number of US jobs added, however, increased faster than expected in June, while the figures for May and April were also revised upwards.

The jobs numbers follow US Federal Reserve minutes on Thursday that indicated policy makers were concerned about the effects of a trade war, and discussed a possible recession.

Locally, diversified miner Anglo American lost 1.2% to R304.57, while Glencore added 0.67%.

Aveng rocketed 33.33% to 12c, after Aton, which is looking to acquire Murray & Roberts, had bought a quarter of its share capital. Murray & Roberts, which is looking to acquire Aveng, gained 0.52% to R17.50.

Vodacom lost 1.46% to R127.10. Star slipped 0.89% to R16.65, after it had interdicted four former Tekkie Town managers from any actions that could destabilise Tekkie Town operations. Naspers gained 1.47% to R3,438.53. Shortly after the JSE closed, the Dow was up 0.16% to 24,396.63 points. The FTSE 100 and DAX 30 were flat. The CAC 40 lost 0.16%.

At the same time, gold lost 0.15% to $1,255.73/oz, while platinum gained 0.21% to $843.93/oz. Brent oil lost 0.89% to $76.91 a barrel.

The top 40 Alsi futures index gained 0.34% to 51,510 points, with 19,194 contracts traded, up from Thursday’s 14,676.