Bourse barely moved in thin conditions

The JSE was unchanged on Monday, while market liquidity was limited due to holidays in the US, UK and some parts of Europe.

Investors continue to monitor the debt ceiling talks in the US. US President Joe Biden and House speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly sealed a deal at the weekend during a 90minute phone call, with Bloomberg reporting both parties voiced confidence it would pass in Congress and reach the president’s desk for signature, averting a historic default before a June 5 deadline.

Now the leaders must convince enough members of their respective parties that the deal is better than the global economic consequences of default, reported Bloomberg.

“The agreement on US debt eased what had been a potentially huge threat to markets worldwide,” said Oanda senior market analyst Kelvin Wong. “Markets are, however, reacting cautiously.

“Right now, it’s all about convincing the ‘hard-core’ factions of both camps, the conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats to vote for the deal, which still has an element of uncertainty,” said Wong.

The JSE all share was barely changed at 76,613 points, as was the top 40. Industrial metals rose 1.23% and resources added 0.71%. Retailers lost 0.78%, food producers gave up 0.5%, banks were down 0.46% and financials eased 0.43%.

BHP Group led the gains in the industrial metals sector, rising 1.66% to R563.04. Anglo American added 1.42% to R571.22, Glencore rose 0.61% to R102.70 and African Rainbow Minerals rose 0.39% to R212.73.

Telkom led the gains on the JSE, with the shares jumping the most since July after news that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is backing a possible bid led by a former Telkom CEO. Bloomberg reported at the weekend that the PIC, which manages more than R2.5-trillion in assets, was in talks to team up with Sipho Maseko’s investment vehicle Afrifund and Mauritius-based Axian Telecom in a potential offer for a 35% stake in the partly state-owned company. The stake could also be combined with the PIC’s current shareholding.

Telkom said it is in a closed period and will update the market on June 13 on its strategy to unlock value. The share price rose 10.51% to R27.96.

At 5.10pm, the rand was little changed at R19.638/$, having reached an intraday best of R19.6092/$. It strengthened 0.19% to R21.0337/€ but weakened 0.12% to R24.2567/£. The euro was 0.14% weaker at $1.0709.

Gold was little changed at $1,946.84/oz, while platinum gained 0.52% to $1,026.30/oz. Brent crude was 0.71% weaker at $76.61 a barrel.