Stronger rand pushes JSE lower

The JSE was lower on Tuesday due to a stronger rand, as markets continue to digest the implications of Turkey’s financial crisis.

Banks were firmly higher on the day, more than recovering losses sustained on Monday.

Miners fell sharply, however, under pressure from a firmer rand and gloomy Chinese data, despite upbeat local statistics on the sector.

The all share lost 0.48% to 57,608.9 points and the top 40 0.52%. Gold miners fell 6.04%, platinums 2.2% and industrials 0.62%. Banks gained 1.98% and general retailers 1.84%.

The rand firmed more than 2% as the Turkish lira showed signs of stabilising, although concerns over that country’s debt exposure and its conflict with the US over the detention of a US citizen remain unresolved.

Local data was supportive, with the mining sector recording growth for the first time in three months. Production rose 2.8% year on year in June, while the contraction of 2.6% year on year originally reported in May was revised to 1.8%.

Mining production has dropped 1.5% in 2018 compared with 2017. “Commodity prices have suffered amid geopolitical concerns and rising trade tensions that have reinforced investor concerns over global growth, threatening demand,” said Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop.

Diversified miner Anglo American lost 2.95% to R298.44 and Glencore 2.15% to R57.24.

Gold Fields plummeted 13.82% to R41.84, after saying earlier it was preparing to lay off up to 1,560 people at its loss-making South Deep mine.

Capital & Regional fell 7% to R8.10, after earlier declaring an interim dividend of UK1.82p per share for the half year to end-June, a 5.2% increase.

Curro gained 0.7% to R31.45, after saying revenue in the six months to end-June grew 18% to R1.2bn.

At 5.30pm, the Dow had gained 0.52% to 25,319.39 points, while in Europe, the FTSE 100 had lost 0.22%, and the CAC 40 0.16%. At the same time, gold had risen 0.26% to $1,196.83/oz while platinum was little changed at $804.16/oz. Brent crude was down 0.25% to $72.59 a barrel.

The top 40 Alsi futures index fell 0.46% to 51,500 points. The number of contracts traded was 22,882 from Monday’s 18,368.