SA stocks set wrong kind of record

SOUTH Africa’s stocks fell the most in a week as AngloGold Ashanti and Harmony Gold came under pressure from a lower bullion price on Friday.

AngloGold led the losers, falling 9.4% to R96.75, while Harmony saw its share price fall 7.5% to R9. Harmony, trading near 22-year lows, said on Friday its secondary listing in New York was in jeopardy because its average closing price over 30 days had fallen below the minimum threshold of $1.

“The rand is strengthening and the gold price is lower . . . Those two in sync put quite a bit of pressure on gold companies,” said Piru Harington, a trader at Global Trader.

Investment firm Brait SE fell the most in almost a year after announcing plans to raise $541-million for acquisitions. It said it would raise the money through a convertible bond. Its shares fell 7.85% to R130.

The benchmark Top 40 index fell 1.31% to 43 450, while the broader All Share index slipped 1.2% to 48 930.

Crude oil fell about 3% after Goldman Sachs slashed its price forecast through next year, while global equity markets slid on worries over the economic outlook and whether the US Fed will raise interest rates this week.

The Pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.70% at 1 405.14, and MSCI’s all-country world stock index was 0.39% lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.36% to 16 271.07. The S&P 500 slid 0.57% to 1 941.08, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.67% to 4 764.13.

Goldman Sachs slashed its 2016 forecast for US crude to $45 a barrel from $57 previously, and Brent to $49.50 down from $62, citing oversupply and concerns over China’s economy. Citing “operational stress” as a growing downside risk to its forecast, Goldman said while not its base case, crude could fall further to near $20 a barrel.

The front-month in Brent, the global benchmark for oil, was off $1.60 at $47.29. —