Rand slide buoys bourse

THE JSE closed sharply higher yesterday as a combination of a weaker rand and higher oil prices supported miners and industrials on the day.

Renewed warnings from ratings agency S&P of a possible downgrade‚ which weakened the rand‚ in turn supported the stock market‚ with banks and financials also benefiting from risk-on trade.

At 5pm the all-share closed 1.79% higher at 52 698.60 and the blue-chip top-40 added 1.90%. Resources lifted 4.27% and banks closed 1.91% higher. The gold index rose 1.78%. Financials added 1.42%. Industrials gained 1.18% and property lifted a firm 0.41%.

At 4pm the rand was at R13.87/$, 1.9% weaker than Wednesday’s close. It was at R15.50/ from R15.27/ and R17.98/£ from R17.73/£.

Growth in private sector credit demand slowed to 6.15% year-on-year in August from 6.78% in July. — BDpro