JSE rises 2%, again boosted by Naspers

The JSE rose a healthy 2% on Thursday‚ starting November on a positive note‚ once again given the bulk of its direction from market heavyweight Naspers.

Naspers jumped 8.56% to R2‚814.72‚ given a fillip by news it will not be penalised in global index rankings for its dual-share structure‚ and by a recovery in global tech stocks.

The all share rose 2.27% to 53‚578.8 points and the top 40 2.42%. Industrials rose 3.55%‚ banks 2.08%‚ food and drug retailers 1.96%‚ and general retailers 1.9%.

Gold miners gave up 2.09%. A 2% gain by the rand to the dollar lifted banks and retailers‚ but gold miners fell despite a higher precious metal price‚ mainly due to Sibanye-Stillwater falling 9.67% to R9.25.

The company reported steep drops in production for the quarter to end-September‚ as well as spiralling costs.

Good news for interest ratesensitive shares also came in the form of further moderation of the oil price – with Brent crude falling below $75 on concerns of both rising supply‚ and slowing global economic growth.

Domestic news was mixed, with the Absa purchasing managers index at 42.4 points in October from September’s upwardly revised 44.5 points.

New-vehicle sales‚ however‚ grew 1.7% in October, compared with the same month in 2017‚ with the National Automobile Association of SA noting that vehicle cost inflation was below consumer inflation. –