Banks and platinums boost bourse

The JSE closed firmer on Thursday, boosted mainly by banking and platinum stocks amid a slew of local company results.

Trade on global markets was more subdued after the Dow’s surge to a record 21,115.55 on Wednesday as bourses weighed the strong possibility of a US rate increase this month.

Gold and platinum prices were lower but golds and platinums on the JSE were higher on the weaker rand.

The all share closed 0.41% firmer at 51,893.20 and the blue-chip top 40 added 0.36%. Banks were up 2.91%. Platinums rose 1.49% and financials gained 1.19%. The gold index was 0.79% higher, and food and drug retailers rose 0.24%.

Standard Bank ended the day 6.54% higher at R155.95. its headline earnings per share for the year to end December rose 4% to R14.40, but the dividend was up 16%.

FirstRand gained 2.16% to R51.47, but Barclays Africa closed 0.81% lower at R154.

MTN jumped 8.32% to R126.75 after it said it would pay a final dividend, despite annual revenue coming in flat. MTN recorded a R3.1bn loss for the year to end-December — its first annual loss in 20 years — from the previous year’s R23.6bn profit.

Beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev shed 2.26% to R1,401.66. Revenue grew 2.4% in the year to December 2016 and 0.2% in the fourth quarter.

MMI Holdings rose 2.12% to R25.10 after reporting aftertax profit fell by a third to R1bn in the six months to end-December.

The rand was weaker in late trade as the dollar firmed against a basket of major currencies on the prospect of rate increases in the US. At 5.45pm, it was at R13.0887 against the dollar from R13.0259 at its previous close.

Local bonds were firmer, however, with the benchmark R186 bid at 8.76% from 8.815% on Wednesday.

At 5.44pm, the local near-dated top-40 Alsi futures index was 0.05% higher at 44,611 points with 21,354 contracts traded from Wednesday’s 32,201.