MARKETS WRAP

RAND, JSE END WEEK FIRMER

THE RAND firmed against the dollar in late trade on Friday, as hopes for a rapprochement on trade between Beijing and Washington calmed investors’ nerves.

The currency had suffered through much of August, sliding nearly 6 percent on fears of a downgrade to junk by Moody’s, and concerns about the trade dispute between the two major buyers of South Africa’s exports.

But the mood lifted across world markets after US President Donald Trump said some trade discussions were taking place with China on Thursday, with more talks scheduled.

At 5pm on Friday, the rand bid at R15.1868 to the dollar, 14 cents stronger than at the same time on Thursday.

In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark 10-year government issue rose 3.5 basis points to 8.23 percent.

The JSE all share index gained 1.56 percent to 55 259.57 points, while the benchmark Top40 index advanced 1.56 percent to 49 320.23 points, to levels last seen on August 13.

Discovery closed 6.64 percent firmer to R115.17 as investors looked beyond a warning that full-year profits would fall.

Greg Davies, trader at Cratos Capital, said the firm’s trading statement likely gave some comfort to investors who had been concerned after analysts had flagged accounting assumptions at Discovery that they considered optimistic.

Massmart continued to gain after it outlined plans on Thursday to arrest a drop in profits and margins, and closed up 5.39 percent at R44.99. I Reuters