Rand expected to weaken to R15/$
The JSE closed flat on Monday as miners made a comeback on higher oil prices, while the rand looked set to weaken to R15 to the dollar.
Naspers was the major drag on the market, closing lower for the third successive session, on concerns that a clampdown by China will hit its associate Tencent hard. Naspers owns 31% of the internet and gaming group.
Platinums were higher despite a flat metal price. BHP and Anglo American gained on the day, while Sasol was lower on profit-taking.
Rand hedges recovered late in the day after falling during the morning.
Volumes were light as US exchanges were closed for a public holiday. European markets were mixed, with the FTSE 100 up 1.06%, on the weaker pound, but the DAX 30 lost 0.21%.
Inflows into US assets have hurt emerging markets that are highly dependent on the dollar and foreign finance, chiefly Turkey and Argentina.
Brent crude edged above $78 a barrel as Iran’s crude exports began to drop in the run-up to the start of US sanctions in November.
The all share closed 0.07% higher at 58,711.20 points and the top 40 lost 0.05%. Platinums gained 1.93%, general retailers 1.18%, resources 1%, the gold index 0.68% and food and drug retailers 0.62%. Industrials lost 0.58%.
Naspers ended the day 1.86% lower at R3,205. Bidvest lost 0.71% to R214.47. MTN shed 2.46% to R86.80.
The rand was at R14.8435 to the dollar from R14.6650 after hitting R14.9451 in intraday trade. A slight recovery in the euro helped stem losses in the rand, but the outlook remains negative for the local currency, analysts said.
Negative sentiment towards emerging markets shows little sign of abating, with the Turkish lira down another 0.9% against the dollar on the day. It recovered later in the day from steeper earlier losses.
Local bonds remained under pressure, with nonresidents net sellers of R4.4bn over the past week, bringing total net sales to just more than R47bn in 2018. The benchmark R186 government bond was last bid at 9% from 8.97%.
The top 40 Alsi futures index gained 0.11% to 52,260 points. The number of contracts traded was 16,932 from Friday’s 25,788.