Naspers, Prosus losses weigh on JSE

Tech-heavy Naspers and Prosus dragged the JSE lower on Monday, while global markets were mixed after a strong run on Friday.

The JSE all share index broke its four-day winning streak, closing near the new high reached on Friday. Retailers and metals were also under pressure on the day.

Naspers and Prosus lost the most in four days, following a weaker Tencent. Naspers fell 2.04% to R3,477.41 and Prosus 2.06% to R1,613.17.

“A stronger rand resulted in an outsize movement in Naspers and Prosus. The stronger rand also played a role in weakness in some of the other heavyweight rand hedges,” said Chantal Marx, head of investment research at FNB Wealth and Investments.

The JSE all share lost 0.88% to 68,094.28 points and the top 40 0.91%. Retailers fell 1.32%, precious metals 1.93%, industrials 1.16%, resources 0.80% and financials 0.17%.

Pepkor lost the greatest amount in its sector, falling the most in almost four weeks, down 2.75% to R15.23. Woolworths lost 2% to R52.02, Massmart 1.82% to R55.03, Mr Price 1.40% to R194.71, Motus 0.80% to R92.94, Foschini 0.80% to R124, Truworths 0.80% to R49.60 and Cashbuild 0.33% to R305.

While the JSE closed weaker, world shares traded near record highs on the day, with sentiment still upbeat as investors bet on an improving global economic outlook.

The rapid rollout of vaccines in the US, as well as repeated assurances from officials in that country that monetary policy should remain accommodative for an extended period, helped European and US markets close at record highs last week.

“Markets are broadly upbeat about the prospects for the global economic recovery. There have been some impressive moves on the stock markets and now investors want to see these backed up by data,” Axi market analyst Milan Cutkovic said.

At 5.10pm, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.20% firmer to 34,040,14 points.

At the same time, the rand had strengthened 0.49% to R14.2311/$ and 0.15% to R17.1121/€, while it had weakened 0.76% to R19.9020/£. The euro was 0.36% weaker at $1.2025.

Gold lost 0.17% to $1,775.06/oz, while platinum gained 0.67% to $1,209. Brent crude fell 0.18% to $66.58 a barrel.