See-saw ride sees volatile JSE end low

With international markets gaining while SA markets were closed on Wednesday, the JSE started well on Thursday.

But once US and European markets opened somewhat lower, it began to fall.

In a wild see-saw ride, the all share traded in a range of nearly 1,500 points, its most volatile since October 25.

The all share fell 1.02% to 51,551.7 points, with industrials faring worst, down 1.62% and resources losing 1.09%.

Banks eked out a 0.46% gain, with gold and platinum miners doing best, up 0.57% and 2.24%, respectively, on a day characterised by global risk-off sentiment.

The JSE turned over R9.5bn, a little under half its daily average, with extreme moves among individual stocks the order of the day, which is often the case at this time of the year.

MTN gained almost 9% in early trade after settling its $8.1bn dispute with the Nigerian central bank. It closed 2.68% higher at R87.79.

Brent crude took another hit, down 19.27% in 2018 and its December losses about 9%.

A large chunk of the allshare’s losses came from Naspers, which fell 3.03% to R2,866.70. After a more than 70% gain in 2017, the share is now down nearly 17% in 2018.

All the large diversified miners were lower, with spot platinum lower, while gold gained.