Naspers gives JSE a firming nudge
The JSE firmed on Monday, boosted by Naspers gaining 1.34% to R3,030.01 as it tracked a rise in Hong Kong-listed Tencent, in which it is the largest single shareholder. Tencent’s share price rose to a four-month high as Asian markets reopened after last week’s lunar new-year holiday.
The all share edged up 0.31% to 53,409.1 points, the top 40 0.47%, industrials 0.8% and the resources index 0.41%. But platinums gave up 0.93% and general retailers 0.52%.
Global sentiment was shaky, with markets eyeing US-China trade talks. US President Donald Trump is not expected to meet his Chinese counterpart before the March 1 deadline.
Eskom was load shedding, with its future still in doubt. Ratings agency Moody’s
Ramaphosa ’said s announcement President Cyril last week “offered few concrete measures to overcome these structural challenges in the face of entrenched vested interests”. The agency warned that vested interests could hobble government attempts to restructure stateowned entities and simply splitting Eskom up was not a solution to the utility’s finances.
The warning comes ahead of the budget policy statement next week, which could decide SA’s fate with the credit-rating agency and indicate how far the government has come in delivering on its promises of fiscal consolidation.
Domestic data releases are due this week, such as mining, manufacturing and retail sales data for December.
Sasol slid 0.4% to R382.24, having slumped 6.5% on Friday after reporting rising costs and further delays in its US-based Louisiana investment,
Diversified miner BHP gained 1.11% to R304.27, while Glencore fell 1.46% to R51.31. Rand hedge AB InBev gained 1.64% to R1,050. Woolworths dropped 3.29% to R45.80. It has announced the departure of two nonexecutive direc- tors and the resignation last week of David Jones CEO David Thomas.
Harmony Gold fell 1.78% to R29.27, ahead of Tuesday’s release of interim results to end-December. Last week, it warned that headline earnings per share would be 83%-97% lower than the previous matching period’s.
Shortly after the JSE closed, the Dow was up 0.19% at 25,151.69 points. In Europe, the FTSE 100 was up 0.72%, the CAC 40 up 1% and the DAX 30 up 0.79%.
At the same time, gold was down 0.64% at $1,306.14/oz and platinum 1.35% at $788.58. Brent crude fell 1.19% to $61.32 a barrel.
Oil has come under pressure in recent weeks on fear of a cooling global economy and record US production. Oil-cartel Opec is to release its monthly production report on Tuesday, and this will be closely watched as January is the first month when agreed production cuts are intended to take effect, reports Dow Jones Newswires.