SA stocks plummet in longest slide since 2018

A global slump in stocks dragged SA’s benchmark equity index lower for a seventh day on Wednesday, the longest losing streak for the market since October 2018.

The JSE all share index fell as much as 3.2%, its sharpest intraday drop in more than eight months. The benchmark index’s slump has wiped about R1-trillion ($54bn) off the value of stocks during its seven-day slide. The gauge has also erased the last remaining gains it had posted for this year.

Renewed concern about the health of banks prompted selling in the sector in Europe and the US, combining with recession risks and the outlook for hawkish monetary policy to batter sentiment.

Locally, traders have had to digest a steady stream of updates from companies such as MTN setting out how the Eskom crisis hit their operations and earnings.

Global luxury retailer Richemont was the biggest single drag on the JSE on Wednesday, falling 4.1%, while miner Anglo American fell 5.5%. An index of local banking stocks sank as much as 3.6%, sliding for a fourth day to its lowest level in nearly five months.

“The fallout in the US bank sector has led to concern about potential contagion, and on this basis — as well as due to the economic environment, SA banking shares have been under pressure,” Unum Capital analyst Lester Davids said.

The main index was 3.1% lower by 2.51pm in Johannesburg.

“We have seen the impact of the persistent load-shedding in SA on various economic indicators,” said Abdul Davids, head of research at Camissa Asset Management.