Stocks fall despite global uptick

The JSE failed to capitalise on the improved mood on global markets on Thursday, as poor local economic data again brought home the precarious nature of SA’s economic recovery.

Mining production in September slipped 1.7% on an annualised basis, below the Trading Economics consensus forecast of 0.3% growth. Gold production fell 19% during the month.

Manufacturing data was also dire, rising a paltry 0.1%, well below market expectations of growth of 1.7%.

The data indicated that growth was weak in the third quarter, although SA had likely escaped a recession, said Capital Economics assistant economist Gabriella Dickens.

Despite the poor data, miners managed to push higher on a weaker rand, while Naspers slipped 2.86% to R2,796.06. Tencent’s share price closed flat earlier following a volatile session, after it said it was slashing its marketing budget for games, amid a crackdown by Chinese authorities.

The all share fell 1.16% to 54,064.8 points and the top 40 lost 1.36%.

Banks lost 2.01%, industrials 1.69% and financials 1.4%. Gold miners added 0.7% and platinums rose 0.66%.

Global markets were upbeat, with investors continuing to capitalise on the outcome of the US elections.

Good news also came in the form of Chinese data, with exports and imports for October showing resilience despite its trade conflict with the US, reported Dow Jones. Total exports rose 15.6% on an annualised basis, better than the 11% expected by the market, while imports jumped 21.4%, compared to a consensus forecast of 13%.

Markets will be eyeing a US Federal Reserve monetary policy announcement on Thursday evening, although no change in interest rates is expected.

Sasol lost 1.41% to R486.77, as Brent crude slipped under $72 a barrel.

Standard Bank slumped 3.43% to R175.01 and FirstRand 2.08% to close the day at R69.52.

TFG rose 2.67% to R170.95 after earlier reporting that group retail turnover rose 28.9% to R15.9bn in the six months to end-September, with the group declaring an interim dividend of R3.30 per share.

Stefanutti Stocks jumped 7.02% to R3.20, after saying that headline earnings per share jumped 46% to 60.3c in the six months to end-September.

MTN gave up 2.93% to R86.88. Telkom has opted to end its nine-year deal for roaming services with MTN, opting instead to switch to Vodacom, which fell 2.34% to R129.13.

Shortly after the JSE closed the Dow was flat at 26,189.72 points, while in Europe, the FTSE 100 was up 0.35%.

Gold was down 0.18% to $1,224.20 an ounce while platinum was up 0.14% to $871.49. Brent crude was 0.42% lower at $71.68 a barrel.