JSE closes firmer on back of sterling performance by Naspers

THE JSE closed firmer yesterday on a sterling performance from Naspers‚ while platinum and gold stocks dropped on weaker metal prices and a stronger rand.

US stocks struggled for direction with fresh worries over North Korea appearing to weigh on sentiment‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Pyongyang had signalled its leader‚ Kim Jong-un‚ might pull out of next month’s summit with US President Donald Trump if the US insists on denuclearisation for the isolated nation.

The equity market has scored significant gains so far this month‚ but suffered a sizeable drop on Tuesday as the Dow halted an eight-session winning streak‚ the newswire said.

Despite this‚ the stock market seemed to have turned a corner this month‚ overcoming some concerns about inflation‚ rising interest rates‚ trade fights and geopolitical tension.

The JSE all-share closed 1.26% higher at 58 621.8 points and the Top 40 added 1.51%. Industrials rose 2.02%‚ banks 1.55%‚ resources and general retailers both 0.77%‚ and food and drug retailers 0.69%. The gold index shed 2.35%‚ platinum 2.06% and property 0.43%.

Naspers rocketed more than 6% at one stage‚ even though Tencent closed a little lower on the Hang Seng‚ ahead of the release of its results. Naspers owns 31.2% of Tencent‚ which accounts for about 80% of Naspers’s overall profits.

Anglo American Platinum dropped 1.49% to R360 and Lonmin 3.4% to R8.25. Nepi Rockcastle lost 2.75% to R126.76. Mondi Plc rose 1.69% to R346. Aspen Healthcare jumped 4.54% to R265. – BusinessLIVE