Market remains skittish, if firmer

The JSE closed firmer on Tuesday, though it was off intra-day highs after the rand rose 40c against the dollar after union federation Cosatu called on President Jacob Zuma to resign.

Platinum and gold stocks were the best performers on the day, with banks ending flat in volatile trade. General retailers were in the red.

The rand weakened to R13.9472/$, favouring the miners, before firming to R13.52/$ at the JSE’s close, supporting a comeback by banks.

Market sentiment was jittery following S&P Global’s announcement on Monday that it had downgraded SA’s credit to subinvestment grade. Moody’s is also expected to downgrade SA’s credit following its statement on Monday that it was placing the country’s Baa2 rating on review.

Commodity prices edged up on a firmer dollar. Gold rose 0.35% to $1,257/oz, while platinum lifted 0.38%, to $961/oz.

The all share closed 0.39% higher at 52,660.70 and the benchmark top 40 rose 0.41%. Platinums added 5.05% and the gold index gained 3.98%. Resources climbed 1.34%. General retailers shed 1.04%, and food and drug retailers lost 0.75%. Property shed 0.57%. Banks ended the day 0.1% softer and financials were flat (-0.04%).

Glencore ended the day 2.06% higher at R53.96 and Anglo American climbed 1.47% to R207.

After opening 3% up, British American Tobacco lost 0.58% to R885.82.

Among industrials, Remgro dropped 0.63% to R205.69.

Sibanye rocketed 6.7% to R32.79 among gold stocks. AngloGold Ashanti lifted 4.34% to R155.69.

Anglo American Platinum rose 4.65% to R322.80.

Barclays Africa rose 0.8% to R144.14, Standard fell 0.58% to R142.67 and Capitec rose 1.38% to R789.

Bonds were firmer in line with the rand, with the benchmark R186 bid at 8.89%, from 8.96% previously.

At 5.44pm, the near-dated top-40 Alsi futures index was 0.61% higher at 46‚461 points. The number of contracts traded was 28,689 from Monday’s 32,929.