Stocks ease as punters wait and see for Easter

SOUTH African stocks eased marginally on Thursday ahead of public holidays on Friday and tomorrow, with investors cautious in advance of US non-farm payrolls data, which will help set the tone for this week.

Kumba Iron Ore was the biggest blue-chip decliner during the session, sinking almost 6% to new sixyear troughs as the commodity’s price remained pinned near record lows below $50 a ton in the face of a supply glut. The Anglo American unit ended the session 5.9% down at R139.90, its lowest level since February 2009, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Overall, prices were little changed as players preferred not to lock themselves in ahead of the four-day Easter long weekend.

“It’s wait and see ahead of the long weekend, and no one wants to be too heavy in the market when the big data points come out on Friday,” said Lloyd Priestman, a markets analyst at Caleo Capital.

“We will have a big data number and then two lost trading days, so Tuesday will be catch-up.”

US non-farm payrolls were expected to show a spike of 245 000 jobs in March, according to a Reuters poll, but disappointing US private-sector employment and manufacturing data on Wednesday hit US equities and reinforced concerns that the dollar’s recent rally has weighed on exports.

Johannesburg’s benchmark Top 40 index slipped 0.17% to 46 049. The wider All Share index ended 0.1% down at 52 229.

US stocks snapped two straight sessions of losses after a betterthan-expected reading on the labour market boosted optimism ahead of the key US jobs report, while oil prices tumbled on fears of worsening oversupply.

Data showing an unexpected fall in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits boosted sentiment before the US Labour Department’s non-farm payrolls report for March.

“People are looking ahead to the jobs report, and right now it would be a surprise if it was weaker than expected,” said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston, though he said playing it ahead of time could be tricky.

Oil prices fell as officials from the big global powers stayed locked in nuclear talks with Iran. Tehran is hoping for a deal that will end economic sanctions and allow it to sell millions of barrels of oil.

MSCI’s all-country world index was last up 0.67% at 427.39, while its emerging markets index gained 1.17% to 994.46. The FTSEurofirst index of 300 leading European companies was down 0.25% at 1 585.95.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.33% at 17 756.62. The S&P 500 was up 0.35% at 2 066.82, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.13% at 4 886.49.

Brent crude was down $1.80, or 3.15%, at $55.3 a barrel. —